'Look at Ishan, Suryakumar when they made debuts': Amir slams Pak selectors for picking players 'with technical flaws'
Former cricketer Mohammad Amir has highlighted the grey areas of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s selection module.
Former cricketer Mohammad Amir has highlighted the grey areas of the Pakistan cricket board’s selection module. The left-arm pacer, who retired from international cricket in December 2020, feels that often young cricketers are picked into the national side who have technical flaws and aren’t prepared well to play at the international level.
Amir compared the selection criteria of Pakistan with the likes of India, England and New Zealand. In a recent conversation with PakPassion.net, the former cricketer said that other teams pick those players who have learned their lessons in the domestic circuit but in Pakistan, cricketers are expected to learn ‘while playing international cricket’.
“Look at the players that India, England and New Zealand are bringing into international cricket. They are ready to play at the highest level as they have done the hard yards and have completed their learning in the domestic and junior systems. Once selected, they show their skills in international cricket which they have already learnt in domestic cricket. Whereas in Pakistan, at the moment, our players are expected to learn from the national coaches while playing international cricket, rather than having already learnt the art of cricket earlier in their careers,” Amir was quoted as saying.
Amir cited the examples of several Indian youngsters who recently made debut for India in the limited-overs cricket after toiling hard in the domestic level for years.
“Look at Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Krunal Pandya, they looked ready and primed for international cricket when they made their debuts and did not look to need much advice or coaching at all. They have played several years of domestic cricket and the IPL and that makes their introduction into international cricket much smoother,” Amir said.
The 29-year-old further said that an ‘underprepared’ player shouldn’t come to international cricket and hope to learn the game while representing the country at a higher level.
“International cricket isn’t school cricket where you learn on the job. It’s a tough environment where only players who are ready and who have learnt about the game and obtained the necessary skills should be selected. If you want to learn about cricket, do it at the academy or in First-class cricket, don’t come to international cricket underprepared and hope to learn whilst playing for your country. Too often our young players are thrown into international cricket with technical flaws, with issues in their game, in the hope that they will improve. Well, it doesn’t work like that at all and the sooner we realise it, the better it will be,” the former pacer said.