KARACHI: Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir on Saturday annou­nced his retirement from international cricket, ending a controversial career which saw him jailed on spot-fixing charges.

The 32-year-old came out of retirement earlier this year to play in the Twenty20 World Cup in the United States and West Indies.

“After careful consideration I have taken the difficult decision to retire from international cricket,” Amir said in a post on X. “These decisions are never easy, but are inevitable. I feel this is the right time for the next generation to take the baton and elevate Pakistan cricket to new heights.” He retired from all forms of international cricket in December 2021 after being dropped from a tour of New Zealand, but continued to feature in franchise T20 leagues across the world.

He played 36 Tests taking 119 wickets. He took 81 wickets in 61 ODIs and in 62 T20Is he grabbed 71 wickets.

In 2010 he was banned from the sport for five years for spot-fixing during a Test match in England, along with then skipper Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif.

All three players were later jailed in the UK.

He returned to the squad in 2016 and played for Pakistan in all formats until his 2021 retirement.

Amir is currently playing in a T10 league in Sri Lanka.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2024