Misbah criticises Amir, Riaz over their retirement from Tests

Misbah Ul Haq. Picture/ AFP

Pakistan coach Misbah-ul-Haq on Tuesday criticised Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz over their retirement from the longest format of the game.

The coach also revealed that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is thinking about bringing in a policy to ensure the players' availability for all the formats of the game.

"We are thinking deeply on these lines, and we will make a policy on this very soon. Going forward this might become a problem for Pakistan because when you invest so much in the players, on their development, and expect them to give back, they leave the game and it's not the right way to go about it," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Misbah as saying.

"Your resources are consumed for their development and we need a certain policy to make sure players should be available for Pakistan first," added he.

The 27-year-old Amir retired from Tests in July this year to manage his workload.

Wahab announced retirement from the longest format in September as he announced that he is taking an indefinite break from red-ball cricket, including the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan's domestic first-class tournament.

Amir ended his Test career just after playing 36 matches. He managed to take 119 wickets at an average of 30.47.

Pakistan is currently at the sixth place in the World Test Championship standings with 20 points. The side recently drew their Test against Sri Lanka and before that, they lost 2-0 in Australia.

"The biggest plus for us is Babar Azam and our batting, the way we responded in Australia overall. His hundred in Rawalpindi and his overall shift from white-ball cricket to red is an important positive for Pakistan at this stage," said Misbah.

"And at the same time, we have got a younger bowling attack. The way Shaheen and Naseem are bowling, consistently hitting 140-plus in good areas. They have ample time in their careers to develop into match-winners. They have played very little cricket so far, but will improve with every passing day," he added.

Pakistan will next take on Sri Lanka in the second Test at Karachi from December 19.

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