Pakistan paceman Mohammad Amir quits international cricket

Pakistan's Mohammad Amir looks on during the 2019 Cricket World Cup group stage match between Pakistan and Bangladesh at Lord's Cricket Ground in London on July 5, 2019. (AFP)
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Updated 17 December 2020
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Pakistan paceman Mohammad Amir quits international cricket

  • Amir says was “mentally tortured” by Pakistan teammates and coaches, the national board, and by opponents wherever he played
  • The cricket board not thanking Amir for his services underlined the depth of the estrangement between them

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan officials confirmed fast bowler Mohammad Amir's engaging international cricket career ended on Thursday.
Amir announced his decision to local Samaa TV, saying he was “mentally tortured” by Pakistan teammates and coaches, the national board, and by opponents wherever he played. 

Pakistan Cricket Board chief executive Wasim Khan then spoke to the 28-year-old Amir.
"He has no desires or intentions of playing international cricket and as such, he should not be considered for future international matches,” the PCB said in a statement.
“This is a personal decision of Mohammad Amir, which the PCB respects, and as such, will not make any further comment on this matter at this stage.”
The board not thanking Amir for his services underlined the depth of the estrangement between them.
The left-armer took 259 wickets across 36 tests, 61 one-day internationals and 50 Twenty20s.
Amir was 18 when he was banned in 2010 for five years and jailed for three months for spot-fixing in a test series in England. He was allowed to return to cricket a few months early and recalled by Pakistan in 2016.
In 2019 he no longer wanted to play tests, to focus on white-ball cricket and prolong his international career.
His last international was in August in a T20 against England. He was not part of the limited-overs home series against Zimbabwe and left out of the T20 series in New Zealand starting on Friday.
“I am leaving cricket for now because I'm being mentally tortured,” Amir told Samaa TV. "I don't think I can bear such torture.
"I've borne lots of torture from 2010 to 2015, for which I served my time. I've been tortured by being told the PCB invested a lot in me. I'll just say two people invested in me a lot: Najam Sethi (the former PCB chairman) and Shahid Afridi (former Pakistan captain). They were the only two.
"The rest of the team was saying we don't want to play with Amir.
“Recently, the atmosphere that's been created means I get taunted all the time by being told I don't want to play for my country. Every two months, someone says something against me. Sometimes the bowling coach (Waqar Younis) says Amir ditched us, sometimes I'm told my workload is unsatisfactory. Enough is enough.”


Pakistan to export halal meat worth $14.5 million to Tajikistan

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Pakistan to export halal meat worth $14.5 million to Tajikistan

  • Effective trade facilitation can increase bilateral Pakistan-Tajikistan trade to $300 million, says state media
  • PM Shehbaz Sharif approved Pakistan’s halal meat policy earlier this month in bid to boost meat exports

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will export 143,000 tons of halal meat to Tajikistan worth $14.5 million in the near future, state media reported on Tuesday amid Islamabad’s efforts to bolster trade with Central Asian countries. 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, earlier this month, approved Pakistan’s halal meat policy that aims to boost Islamabad’s meat exports to Muslim states. 

In a high-level meeting on Dec. 24, Federal Minister for Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain said Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other Gulf countries are ready to import Pakistani fresh meat and rice. The minister said Tajikistan has expressed the demand to import nearly 100,000 tons of meat from Pakistan. 

“According to details, Pakistan will export one hundred and forty-three thousand tons of halal meat to Tajikistan, valued at 14.5 million dollars,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. 

It did not, however, specify a timeline as to when Islamabad planned to export the halal meat items to the Central Asian nation.

The state media said that effective trade facilitation will increase bilateral trade between Pakistan and Tajikistan to $300 million, strengthening regional economic integration.

Pakistan has recently attempted to increase its halal meat exports to other Muslim countries such as Malaysia. Both countries announced they had agreed to a $200 million halal meat trade quota during Sharif’s visit to Malaysia in October. 

A 2024 report by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) mentioned that the country exported meat worth $512 million in 2024, which included beef, mutton and poultry.

According to the PBS, the UAE remained Pakistan’s top meat export market in 2024 with exports to the Gulf nation reaching $201 million. Meanwhile, meat exports to Saudi Arabia recorded a growth of 65.1 percent last year valued at $141 million.