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Former Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir has ruled himself out of playing in the Indian Premier League in the near future after acquiring United Kingdom citizenship.
Pakistani players have been banned from the IPL since 2010 due to deteriorating relations between the two countries.
“I have no intention of playing in IPL” – Mohammad Aamir
In a recent statement, Amir reiterated that he currently has no plans to play in the IPL despite being technically eligible for it.
Aamir’s case in becoming a British citizen was reportedly helped by the fact that his wife Narjis Khan is already a British citizen.
Aamir also said that despite becoming a British citizen, he has no plans to represent England in international cricket.
“I have no intention of playing in the IPL and I do not plan to represent England in the near future,” Mohammad Amir said in a statement.
The southpaw’s most recent match for his native country, Pakistan, came in June 2024. As per ICC rules, if he changes teams, he will not be eligible to play for England until June 2027.
This statement is completely contrary to the statement given by him last year. In 2025, Mohammad Aamir told Geo News that if IPL ever clashes with PSL (as it is happening from 2025 onwards), he would give priority to IPL.
He had said, “To be honest, if I get a chance, I will definitely play in IPL. I am saying this openly. But if I don’t get a chance, I will play in PSL. By next year, I will get a chance to play in IPL and if I get a chance, then why not? I will play in IPL.”
If Mohammad Amir plays the IPL, he will not be the first former Pakistani international to play in the IPL after changing nationality.
All-rounder Azhar Mahmood obtained a British passport and played in the tournament between 2012 and 2015. Between 2012 and 2013, he played 22 IPL matches for Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) and one match for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2015.
Mohammad Aamir’s Pakistan career
Aamir originally came into limelight in 2009 due to his speed and gait despite being just 17 years old. After a strong performance in domestic cricket, he debuted for his country in all three formats in the same year.
In 2009, he took 6 wickets in 7 matches as Pakistan won the T20 World Cup. He continued to impress in Test cricket as well and became the youngest player to take 50 wickets, but a scandal in 2010 broke everything.
In 2010, Amir was accused of deliberately bowling no-balls at specific points in a Test match against England. Fellow fast bowler Mohammad Asif and captain Salman Butt were eventually convicted of match-fixing along with him and were banned. All three also served jail sentence.
Butt and Asif never played for Pakistan again, but Amir returned in 2015. It took him some time to find his feet, but in the 2016–17 period, he emerged as one of the best bowlers in the world, at least in white-ball cricket.
In 2017, he again played a key role in the Champions Trophy final, taking three wickets in India’s chase of 338. Two years later, he finished as Pakistan’s highest wicket-taker in the ODI World Cup with 17 wickets in 8 matches.
In 2019, at the age of just 27, he retired from Test cricket and did the same in the other two formats the following year. In 2024, he overturned his retirement to play for Pakistan in the T20 World Cup, where he took 7 wickets in 4 matches and finished as the team’s joint-highest wicket-taker as Pakistan exited in the first round.
Overall, Mohammad Amir took 71 wickets in 62 T20Is, 81 wickets in 61 ODIs and 119 wickets in 36 Tests for Pakistan.
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Mohammad Aamir’s T20 career
Since his international retirement, Aamir has been making consistent appearances in T20 leagues around the world. Apart from PSL, he has also worked in CPL, BPL, ILT20, LPL, T20 Blast and The Hundred.
He also won the PSL with Karachi Kings in 2020.
In all T20 cricket, he has taken 425 wickets in 364 matches. His bowling average is 22.64 and economy is just above 7 runs per over. He has also taken five-wicket hauls twice, including a performance of 6/17 in the Bangladesh Premier League in 2020.