Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir, who recently quit international cricket, thanked ex-captain Shahid Afridi for supporting him in his tough times.
Amir revealed that his Pakistan teammates didn't want to play with him as he came back into the team after serving out his ban for his involvement in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal in England.
Afridi had stood by Amir when players were not ready to accept him. The then 18-year-old served a five-year ban from 2010 to 2015 on charges of spot-fixing.
"The entire team was on one side and did not want to play with me but Shahid bhai said, ‘Amir will play come what may’. I will always be thankful to these two," Amir said in a YouTube video.
Amir said the decision to not play international cricket for Pakistan isn't an emotional call. He revealed his teammates used to taunt him for his role in the scandal.
“This is not an emotional decision. I took this step after putting much thought into it. See, not everyone has [the same] guts as I have. If I made a mistake, I came clean in front of everyone and apologized for it as well and faced this issue,” he said.
“I came back and with Allah’s help bowled a very good spell at the Asia Cup and then became the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the PSL. I also helped Pakistan win the ICC Champions Trophy 2017,” Amir added.
The 28-year-old also spoke on his relationship with PCB CEO Wasim Khan or the board’s chairman Ehsan Mani. “I have reservations with the current team management. This ‘yes boss, yes boss culture’ cannot be allowed to go on,” said Amir, who picked 119 wickets from 36 Tests after making his debut in 2009.
