During the 2023 Pakistan Super League (PSL), Mohammad Amir has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Amir made a controversial statement as he said bowling to Pakistan and Peshawar Zalmi captain Babar Azam and a no.10 batter is the same to him. When the two met each other on the field, Amir was over-aggressive and threw the ball in his direction which was criticised by many.
After the incident, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said that he contacted Amir and asked him to control his aggression.
"If you want to play for Pakistan, you have to play alongside Babar only. Will you be able to look at him in the eye? Can you play under his captaincy? Focus on your performance, control your aggression, and go back home peacefully," Afridi had said.
Reacting to Afridi's comments, Amir rubbished Afridi's claim but agreed that the former captain did reach out to him. The left-arm pacer revealed that Afridi didn't ask him to tone down the aggression but he praised him and asked about his injury.
"I received his message but this wasn't it. He only praised my bowling and enquired about my injury," Amir was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
"But the things like 'how will you face Babar'... this wasn't in his texts at all. What harm have I caused Babar? or vice-versa? I found it very weird. I don't know what he was thinking when he said that. I guess he speaks a little quickly so he might have mistakenly said that," he added.
After the incident involving Amir, Babar said that he doesn't mind people showing aggression. The modern-day batting superstar also admitted that his way to display aggression is by piling tons of runs with the bat.
“On the field it's the game of bat and ball. And you always try to put your best foot forward. I try to only focus on my batting, not on other things that can divert my attention, because then, it affects me. The more I simple I keep it, the more it's good for me. I don't think I reacted in any way that time, I kept it quite simple. You can show aggression, mine comes through batting,” Babar had told Cricket Pakistan.
Amir spoke about his relationship with the current Pakistan captain and said that both of them share a mutual respect for each other.
"Babar and I have a mutual understanding and respect. He never bad-mouthed me and same from my side as well. But public thinks we are enemies. It was never like that," Amir said.
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