PAK vs NZ: Mohammad Amir reacts after comeback

Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir reacted after being included in the squad on Tuesday for the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand on home soil.

Amir was called up after he took back retirement from international cricket recently.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Amir said “Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem” which means “in the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful”.

Meanwhile, Wahab Riaz, member of the national selection committee, also talked about the reason behind Amir’s inclusion while announcing the squad during a press conference in Lahore.

“Going forward, we have a lot of injury-prone players and Amir’s performance is also in front of everyone. PSL is one of the best tournaments from where you select players, especially for T20s, and if somebody is available, we should only take into account their performance and Amir is one of those choices,” Riaz said.

Amir was banned from international cricket for five years by the International Cricket Council (ICC) along with Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt, in a spot-fixing case in 2010.

Amir also served half of a six-month custodial sentence in young offenders institutes in Feltham and Dorset.

After marking his return in 2016, the 31-year-old helped Pakistan win the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 where Men in Green bamboozled the arch-rivals India in the final by 180 runs.

Amir is remembered for his breath-taking spell in the final where he dismantled India’s top order by removing Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and the chase-master Virat Kohli.

However, the left-arm bowler announced his international retirement at the age of 28 in December 2020, saying he could no longer play under the management and that he was being "tortured mentally".

Amir has played 36 Tests, 61 One-Day Internationals and 50 T20s for Pakistan.

Pakistan and New Zealand will play three T20Is at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on 18, 20 and 21 April. Following that, both sides will move to Lahore, where they will play the remaining two T20Is of the series on 25 and 27 April, respectively.