Mohammad Amir deflates Ramiz Raja’s call for system overhaul, instead asks Babar Azam to learn from MS Dhoni’s captaincy

Pakistan’s ace fast bowler Mohammad Amir debunked Ramiz Raja’s call for change in the system remarks on his Youtube channel after Pakistan’s humiliating ouster from the ODI World Cup 2023. 

After Pakistan lost to England in their last league match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Pakistan Cricket Board’s former Chairman Ramiz Raja took to his YouTube channel ‘Ramiz Speaks’ to vent out his angst and frustrating regarding the Pakistan team’s dismal performance in the World Cup.

In his video, Ramiz blamed the Pakistan Cricket ecosystem and the backdoor politics that happened during the World Cup behind the Pakistan Cricket team’s failure to qualify for the semi-finals of the World Cup. He also stated that the antics that took place in the Pakistan Board during the tournament and the lackluster cricket ecosystem didn’t facilitate Babar Azam with the resources that were required to win the World Cup.

But Mohammad Amir dismissed the claims of Ramiz Raja and said that the problem doesn’t lie within the cricket ecosystem in Pakistan but within the captain’s rigid mindset. Mohammad Amir shows up as one of the cricket expert in the Geo News show “Hasna Mana Hai”, where he said that the captain that is also a part of the system and it is with his lack of ability to take critical decisions in crunch situations is what costed Pakistan the World Cup.

He said that who told Babar Azam to not pick mystery leg spinner Abrar Ahmed in the squad and not play Fakhar Zaman after the first match. He also stated that it is the same system that won Pakistan the 1992 World Cup, 2009 T20 World Cup and 2017 Champions Trophy and it is the captain who makes or breaks the fortune of the team by his captaincy decisions.

He said, “What is the system? It is not a wall. A captain is also one of them," emphasizing that successful campaigns in 1992, 1999, 2009 T20 World Cup, and 2017 Champions Trophy were achieved under the same system.”

Babar should draw inspiration from MS Dhoni

Amir cited the example of MS Dhoni’s leadership that led India to so many Governing Council Trophies and how MS Dhoni nurtured many players such as Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli under his leadership and how they went to big such big superstars of the game.

Drawing from his personal experiences, Amir highlighted the significant impact of captaincy on team selection. He recounted the 2009 T20 World Cup, where captain Younis Khan successfully pushed for Amir's inclusion despite opposition from the chief selector.

Similarly, he recalled an instance during the 2017 Champions Trophy final when captain Sarfaraz Khan preferred him over the Ruman Raess who bowled well in the semi-finals as Amir was out of injury in the semi-finals.