The veteran pacer Mohammad Amir has been ignored by the head coach and chief selector of Pakistan, Misbah-ul-Haq against Bangladesh in the T20I series. Moreover, Pakistan fans had questioned his snub from the 15-man squad against the Tigers who are expected to tour Pakistan, to play three-match T20I series, one ODI and two-match Test series.
Currently, the left-arm pacer Amir is busy playing the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) for Khulan Tigers. Mentioning Amir’s impressive BPL performance, a Pakistan-based journalist, Zainab Abbas, on Twitter questioned why Amir has been dropped from the T20I side. In reply, fast bowler Amir took a dig at selectors and wrote his retirement from Test cricket has led to his omission from the T20I side.
However, the pacer had deleted a controversial tweet.
Last year, Amir announced his retirement from the Test cricket–to focus on the limited-overs cricket. He was the part of the T20I series against Sri Lanka and Australia where Pakistan failed to deliver. The Lankans defeated the Green Army 3-0. Similarly, when Pakistan toured Australia, the Babar Azam-led side lost the T20I series with 3-0.
The 27-year old pacer’s retirement from the Test had received a backlash from the former Pakistan cricketers. Amir has only played 36 Test matches to pick 119 wickets.
At the expense of pacer Amir, the youngster Haris Rauf will play the maiden T20I game for Pakistan. The fast bowler Rauf has impressed Pakistan selectors with his bowling attack in the Big Bash League (BBL). As of now, he is the second-highest wicket-taker in the league, picking 16 wickets in seven matches.
Veterans Hafeez and Shoaib Malik are back in the squad for the upcoming Twenty20 series while premier batsmen Fakhar Zaman, Asif Ali, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, speedsters – Mohammad Irfan, Amir and Wahab Riaz have been dropped for the Bangladesh T20Is.