New Delhi. Left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Amir made his international debut in the T20 World Cup 2009 and made a big record as soon as he stepped on the field. Amir played his first T20I match against England on 7 June 2009 and became the youngest player to play in the T20 World Cup. When Amir played his first T20I match, he was just 17 years and 55 days old. The pressure of starting a career with a big tournament like the T20 World Cup does not reduce, but the slim Amir faced it well and performed well. He proved to be a ‘lucky charm’ for the team and Pakistan became the champion in his first tournament itself. In the final, the Younus Khan Brigade defeated Sri Lanka by 8 wickets.
This record of playing the T20 World Cup at the youngest age remained in Aamir’s name till 2022. In the T20 World Cup 2022, Aayan Khan of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) made this record by playing a match against the Netherlands at the age of 16. There is every possibility of Aamir being a part of the Pakistani team in the T20 World Cup 2024. Aamir has returned from retirement at the request of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
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Took Dilshan’s valuable wicket in the final
Aamir was the fourth most successful bowler of Pakistan team in T20 World Cup 2009. In 7 matches of the tournament, he took 6 wickets at an average of 29.16 and economy of 7.29. Only Umar Gul (13), Saeed Ajmal (12) and Shahid Afridi (11) took more wickets than him for the team. In the final against Sri Lanka, Aamir started the Pakistani bowling and took the wicket of Tillakaratne Dilshan by giving 30 runs in 4 overs. He sent Dilshan, who scored the highest 317 runs in the tournament, back to the pavilion without even opening his account. At the peak of his career, Aamir reminded us of Pakistan’s great fast bowler Wasim Akram. Apart from swinging the ball on both sides at a good speed, he also mastered reverse swing.
Left is right… Left-handed batsman-bowler has shone brightly for India in the T20 World Cup
Has played in three T20 World Cups
Apart from 2009, Aamir also played the 2010 and 2016 T20 World Cups. In the 2010 tournament, he took 8 wickets in 6 matches at an average of 19.00 and an economy of 6.60. Unfortunately, a few months after this World Cup, he was found guilty of spot fixing and was banned for 5 years. This affected Aamir’s career a lot and he could not play in the 2012 and 2014 T20 World Cups. Due to the ban, Aamir remained out of cricket for 5 years. This was the reason that in his career from 2009 to 2024, he could play only 36 Tests, 61 ODIs and 56 T20 matches.
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He was the reason for India’s defeat in the Champions Trophy final
After completing the ban period, Aamir returned to the Pakistan team for the T20 World Cup 2016 but his balls did not have the same edge as before. Instead of attacking, he looked more like a defensive bowler and could take only 3 wickets in 4 matches at an average of 39.33 and economy of 7.86. However, he soon came back to his old form. In the final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, Aamir became the biggest obstacle in the path of Team India’s victory. Aamir took the wickets of three star batsmen of the Indian team, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan, in the very first spell. These three batsmen looked helpless in front of his ability to bring the ball in and take it out from the same place. By taking 3 wickets in the match, he made a significant contribution in helping the team win the Champions Trophy. Virat Kohli also once described Aamir as a very difficult bowler.
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Virat Kohli had told him to be a very difficult bowler
Bollywood’s ‘Mr. Perfectionist’ Aamir Khan had asked Virat in a TV show in 2017 whether he gets nervous in front of a bowler, to which Virat replied, ‘Currently, Pakistan’s Mohammad Aamir…he is among the top two or three bowlers in the world right now. Aamir is one of the toughest bowlers I have faced in my career. While facing him, you have to play at the top level or else you can get out.’ However, Virat has scored a lot of runs against Aamir on many occasions, tearing apart his bowling. Let us tell you, Virat has a good bonding with Aamir. Virat has once gifted his bat to Aamir. Aamir has also described Virat as the best batsman in the world at present on many occasions.
Team India has never won against two teams in T20 World Cup, it has never lost against 4 teams
I retired after being fed up with the mental torture of PCB
Aamir was very talented but he was not disciplined. Due to this, he was associated with controversies. In 2021, Aamir announced his retirement from all formats of international cricket, saying that he had to take this step because he was fed up with the ‘mental torture’ of PCB. Aamir has 119 wickets in 36 Tests, 81 in 61 ODIs and 64 in 56 T20Is. Now, on the request of the same PCB that tortured him mentally, 32-year-old Aamir has announced to withdraw his decision of retirement. Recently, his bowling performance in T20 matches against New Zealand and Ireland has been fine, but his real test will be in front of the world’s great batsmen in the T20 World Cup 2024 (ICC T20 World Cup 2024). It will be interesting to see whether Aamir shows his old shine in this important tournament or proves to be a ‘spent cartridge’.
Tags: ICC T20 world cup, mohammad amir, Pakistan cricket team, T20 World Cup
FIRST PUBLISHED : May 24, 2024, 09:23 IST