Mohammad Amir trying to blackmail others with his statements for comeback: Danish Kaneria

Tags: Pakistan, Mohammad Amir, Danish Parabha Shanker Kaneria

Published on: May 18, 2021

Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria has lashed out at retired pacer Mohammad Amir, alleging that he is trying to blackmail others with his statements to make a comeback into the team. Amir, who has been constantly critical of PCB, claiming they forced him into early retirement, recently stated that he is hoping to receive British citizenship in the future.

Speaking out against Amir’s statements on his Youtube channel. Kaneria said, “I am taking nothing away from Mohammad Amir. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I feel he is trying to blackmail others with his statements so that he can make a return to the side. From his comments on moving to England and getting citizenship and playing the IPL, you can understand his headspace.”

“Mohammad Amir should realize that Pakistan were really kind to bring him back after his spot-fixing scandal. But his performance over the last 1.5 years has been absolutely zero. Agreed he bowled really well in the ICC Champions Trophy, but since then he has been on a steep decline," Kaneria added.

According to Kaneria, when Amir was dropped from the team, his performance had declined significantly. The former spinner further claimed, “When you (Amir) were excluded from the team after a decline, you then proceeded to claim that I will not play with this management. Despite them being the ones who backed Mohammad Amir. When I talk about people like Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, the board pressured them to support Mohammad Amir and bring him back to the team. Even some commentators did not want to support Amir, but they had to because the commentary was their bread and butter.”

Recently, Amir was quoted as saying by PakPassion.net that he hopes no other youngster goes through what he has has to face. He said, “Retiring from playing for your beloved country isn’t an easy step to take. I thought a lot about this decision, I spoke to those close to me and only then did I reach this decision. If I go into all of the details and re-open all those chapters then it will get very ugly. I hope that our players, especially the youngsters in future don’t have to face what I had to face as I don’t want our younger players to get disheartened and have to sacrifice their careers like I did.”

Amir also spoke about his future plans and revealed that he will think about the further course of action once he receives British citizenship. "At the moment I’ve been granted indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom. I’m enjoying my cricket these days and plan to play for another 6 or 7 years so let’s see how things go. I've not really thought about the other possibilities and opportunities available and how things will turn out when I receive British citizenship in the future," Amir added.

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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