Mohammad Amir continues to be the topic of major cricketing discussions in Pakistan following his comments about the international team’s captain Babar Azam.
Before Karachi Kings’ first game against Peshawar Zalmi, Amir compared his former captain to a tailender, saying he sees no difference between Babar and a number 10 batter.
His comments added spice to the game which Babar’s side won with the batter smashing the Amir-led attack for 68 runs. But Amir’s remarks have not set well with the current and former cricketing lot.
After his own teammate, Shoaib Malik advised him to not cross the element of “respect”, Shaheen Afridi and Yasir Shah have come to Babar’s defence.
“He [Amir] said that about Babar. That is surprising. If you go to any place and if Babar is playing against any team, they will refer to Babar Azam as ‘king’. So I think this is not the right way to address Babar,” Shaheen commented on a local TV channel.
“Babar Azam is number one player and we respect him since he is our captain. If we won’t respect him as captain, who else would?” he questioned.
Yasir Shah also echoed similar sentiments.
“If you give such statements right before the match… (it isn’t good). He has confidence on himself. But he needs to realise that bowlers can have a bad day. He didn’t perform the way he is expected to,” Yasir said.
Despite the counselling from others, it is unlikely that the left-armer will jettison this new mean dimension to his game.
Mohammad Amir and Babar Azam will face off at least once more this season when the Kings take on Zalmi in the reverse fixture at Pindi Cricket Stadium on March 1st.
