Mohammad Amir comes out of retirement, announces availability for T20 World Cup
Karachi, Mar 24: Controversial Pakistan left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir has decided to come out of international retirement and make himself available for selection for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the Americas in June.
Amir, who was banned from cricket for five years between 2010 to 2015 on spot-fixing charges and was also briefly jailed for his crime, had retired in 2021 from all forms of international cricket.
However, he has kept on playing in T20 leagues across the globe and now the new PCB regime under chairman Mohsin Naqvi has convinced him to take back his retirement.
"I still dream to play for Pakistan! life brings us to the points where at times we have to reconsider our decisions. There has been few positive discussions between myself and the PCB where they respectfully made me feel that I was needed and can still play for Pakistan," Amir wrote on 'X'.
The left-arm speedster, who last played for Pakistan in a T20I in Manchester in August, 2020 is expected to be summoned for the national camp in Kakul.
"After discussing with family and we'll wishers I declare that I am available to be considered for upcoming T20WC, I want do this for my country as it comes before my personal decisions. Donning the green jersey and serving my country has always been, and will continue to be, my greatest aspirations."
The soon-to-be 32 Amir has so far played 36 Tests, 61 ODIs and 50 T20Is for an aggregate of 259 scalps across formats.
I still dream to play for Pakistan!
— Mohammad Amir (@iamamirofficial) March 24, 2024
life brings us to the points where at times we have to reconsider our decisions, There has been few positive discussions between myself and the PCB where they respectfully made me feel that I was needed and can still play for Pakistan after…
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
BJP has become party of Bakasur, its hunger insatiable: Sanjay Raut on defection of AAP MPs
Mumbai (PTI): A day after seven Rajya Sabha MPs of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) quit and said they were merging with the BJP, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday likened the saffron party to the mythological demon Bakasur with insatiable hunger.
Talking to reporters here, Raut said the majority of AAP MPs who switched their loyalties to the Bharatiya Janata Party were "Page 3 leaders", and claimed that they were scared as they were "wealthy and needed protection."
"Let the garbage from other parties go the BJP so that it becomes a dumping ground," Raut said.
The AAP suffered a jolt on Friday as seven out of its 10 Rajya Sabha members, including Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak, quit the party, with Chadha saying all of them had merged with the BJP.
"In Mahabharat, there is a demon called Bakasur whose hunger was insatiable. The BJP has become a party of Bakasur. It can eat anything," Raut said.
Chadha had once termed the BJP a party of goons, while Mittal's businesses faced raids soon after he was made deputy leader of the AAP in the Rajya Sabha (replacing Chadha), said Raut, himself a member of the Upper House of Parliament.
The Enforcement Directorate had last week conducted raids at business entities linked to Mittal in Punjab as part of a FEMA probe.
"Everyone knows about the BJP's politics. It is shamelessness," the Sena (UBT) leader said, adding that US President Donald Trump called India a hellhole and the BJP was showing what hell looks like.
He himself had written to then Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu that there was pressure on him to join the BJP but he did not betray his party and preferred to go to jail, Raut said, referring to his arrest in an alleged money laundering case in 2022. He was released on bail in the case months later.
#WATCH | Mumbai | On Raghav Chadha, along with 2/3 AAP Rajya Sabha MPs joining BJP, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut says, "... Everyone knows the politics the BJP is playing. Their politics is a single word, we call it shameless. They have no shame. Because these people, like… pic.twitter.com/hJslDdLZDV
— ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2026
