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Here’s How Amir Compares to the Current & Legendary Pakistani Fast Bowlers

Left-arm pacer, Mohammad Amir, shocked the cricketing world when he announced his retirement from international cricket, claiming that he has been mentally tortured by the current Pakistan cricket management.

Head coach, Misbah-ul-Haq, and bowling coach, Waqar Younis, have been vocal about Amir’s decision to retire from Test cricket in 2019 and is one of the reasons why he hasn’t been considered regularly for the national squad. Amir, in return, has taken tacit digs at both of them on Twitter on multiple occasions.


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According to Amir, he retired from Test cricket to prolong his limited-overs career. He said that his body cannot handle the demands of Test cricket anymore and if he continues to play all three formats, he will soon have to retire from cricket altogether.

Ever since his retirement from Test cricket, Amir wasn’t able to cement his place in the limited-overs side. He wasn’t even selected for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 initially, but was called-up to the squad and finished with 17 wickets.

He was overlooked for the series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand. According to cricket experts, Amir should have been on the plane to New Zealand, whereas the management decided to invest in players that will be available for all three formats.

However, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Musa and Wahab Riaz are all white-ball bowlers. They are not expected to be a part of the Test squad as well, but they were chosen ahead of Amir.

Is it due to his unavailability in all three formats or because of his underwhelming performances or due to the strained relationship between the two parties. Time will tell.

Let’s have a look at Amir’s performances in comparison to the other fast bowlers in the squad.

Since his return to cricket in 2016

Mohammad Amir made his international comeback in 2016 after serving a five year ban for his role in the infamous spot-fixing scandal. Since then, he has been one of the most overworked bowler’s in world cricket.

Players Matches Overs Wickets Average
Mohammad Amir 100 1277.3 160 29.68
Hassan Ali 92 817.4 148 28.06
Mohammad Abbas 24 740.4 81 23.32
Wahab Riaz 59 685.0 90 37.14
Shaheen Afridi 49 587.5 100 25.13

Note: These are figures from all three formats.

He has played the most number of matches as a fast bowler and has bowled the most number of overs in these four years, so his claim of workload management does have some substance behind it. Hasan Ali, who has bowled the second most number of overs during the same period, had been sidelined due to injury for over a year.


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Career Statistics

Players Matches Overs Wickets Average
Mohammad Amir 147 1951.5 259 28.14
Wahab Riaz 153 1674.5 237 33.47
Shaheen Afridi 49 587.5 100 25.13
Haris Rauf 11 52.0 15 25.13
Mohammad Hasnain 15 87.0 17 35.11
Mohammad Musa 5 44.0 2 138.5

His career statistics show the importance of Mohammad Amir for Pakistan. Despite having played less matches than Wahab Riaz, he has bowled more overs and has picked up more wickets. The rest of the fast bowlers have just started their careers, so it will be unfair to compare them to the two of the most experienced fast bowlers in world cricket.

International matches in the last 2 years

Players Matches Overs Wickets Average
Mohammad Amir 26 222.3 38 26.6
Wahab Riaz 20 132.1 24 35.12
Shaheen Afridi 34 439.0 68 26.86
Haris Rauf 11 52.0 15 25.13
Mohammad Hasnain 15 87.0 17 35.11
Mohammad Musa 5 44.0 2 138.5

Mohammad Amir has arguably been one of the better performers over the past 2 years for Pakistan. His 38 wickets are second highest in the team and his average of 26.6 has also been exceptional.

Comparison with former pacers

Players Matches Wickets Average 5-fors
Wasim Akram 460 916 23.57 31
Waqar Younis 349 789 23.7 35
Imran Khan 263 544 24.08 24
Shoaib Akhtar 219 438 25.02 16
Umar Gul 237 427 28.68 8
Abdul Razzaq 339 388 32.32 4
Mohammad Amir 147 259 28.14 5
Sarfaraz Nawaz 100 240 30.25 4
Wahab Riaz 153* 237 33.47 3
Aqib Javed 185 236 32.18 5

Mohammad Amir is the 7th leading wicket-taking fast bowler for Pakistan having picked up 259 wickets across all formats. Overall, he is the 13th highest wicket-taker in Pakistan’s history.

Amir currently is arguably the leading fast bowler in Pakistan currently. Although Shaheen has been the spearhead of the bowling line-up, he is still a novice in the international arena. Wahab Riaz’s inconsistency does not help his case either, as shown in the first T20I against New Zealand where he conceded more than 40 runs in less than 4 overs.


Do you think the management should sort out its issues with Amir so that he can be available for the upcoming T20 World Cup? Let us know in the comments section.

They call me the Sports Guy!


  • i believe he is so far best bowler in the line up , why is he being mentally tortured ? he already sentenced for 5 years for his match fixing , now this thing has to be closed permanently .

    • I should not have been taken back on the first place. He sold the country for his economic gains. Now he talking about mental torture, has he forgotten the mental torture he gave to us. He talks about respect, when he sold the country’s respect, down the drain. PCB has done, what it should have done earlier.
      I am amazed for the people’s who still support him. What if he has completed his sentance . He is a traitor of the nation.

  • management must fix the mutual issues for the sake of the interest of Pakistan by sitting with, He must come back to serve Pakistan and Pakistan will in sha Allah win the coming world cup.

  • He should be never allowed in Pakistani team
    This is the result of ahsaan by cricket board
    They gave you chance and youbark instead of
    thanking board

  • This boy has no comparison at with great legends like Qasim, Waqar, Shoaib etc. He should be thankful to this nation as well as his seniors who unprecedentedly supported him for his return to international cricket. He is an extremely selfish person who preffered white ball and gave no preference to play test cricket for tge country. A huge disappointment for cricket lovers. I also feel pity on tge media who are giving this dead monkey so much importance. Please forget him as he forgot to be thankful.

  • We have wasted talent like asif….

    we have not wasted amir but he is finished….

    why he got retirement from test cricket???
    he can improve his fitness

    certified fixer should have been treated like asif and butt…


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