To Amir, with regret

It’s a waste for someone as promising as Mohammad Amir to suddenly retire from international cricket at the age of 28. An unfortunate twist of fate for him and Pakistani cricket.

The sharp run-up, the forward lean as he galloped, the perfect shoulder rotation, the signature back foot drag and the impeccable left arm release — Amir knew the recipe to become one of the greatest to ever bowl, but shockingly had to leave things in the middle.

Making a successful comeback after serving a five-year ban only to retire prematurely has put things under the cloud. A blame game has erupted with Amir blaming the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management for taking a hit at his mental health while he was being told off for continuously dipping his head in everything money and material.

Once again, the PCB is being blamed for showing signs of a difficult employer and this time the person googling, “how to deal with a mean boss?” is Amir. We are losing a good crop of cricketers and potential superstars only because the dressing room has no place for mental health and mental fitness. When will we bring mental health issues from under the carpet to the discussion table?

Mental health has no bodily representation. It’s an abstract concept. We cannot see it nor address it. Physical health is quite the opposite and gets all the budgeting and press. The testimony to this is that Pakistan has a shockingly low number of psychiatrists — less than 500.

At times, we have to spend more time at our workplace than our homes where we are constantly fighting an internal war with our conscience and the will to keep going in the backdrop of gender discrimination, challenging workload, conflicts in roles and harassment and bullying. With time, all this gets the best of us and manifests as mental health issues like depression and anxiety. Workplace stress follows us home and disrupts our personal and family life — an unforgiving cycle.

According to the World Health Organization, one in five people suffer from mental health disorders caused by stress at the workplace. Data collected by Britain’s National Health Service shows that every two out of three cases of workplace sick leaves are due to mental health problems. How much longer will we ignore these statistics? How much longer will we let mental health issues keep striking us without any retaliation?

The PCB and team management should, for their own sake, work on the mental wellbeing of its players to enjoy increased productivity. Any team member coming late to practice sessions, who often looks tired in the ground, is avoiding social interactions with other players and staff members, is underperforming without any apparent reason or is not jelling well with the team should not just casually be sidelined and labelled as a problem child. Such players should immediately be identified by senior players, coaches and managers and given immediate attention in order to avoid problems such as increased intra-team disputes, bad performances and irreversible loss for Pakistani cricket.

Amir and the PCB are caught up in a war of ego and pride. Either one coming out as a winner would be a loss for Pakistani cricket. For the greater good of the national side, both would have to take a humble and unassuming path.

After the downfall of Pakistani hockey, we held the bat and the ball closer and firmer, afraid of losing them too. Amir kept the passion for cricket burning in the hearts of many. He was the reason why young boys still played street cricket. He was one of the last remnants of the aggressive bowling attack which Pakistan was once famous for. With him gone, our bowling attack has been smashed out of the park.

This leaves us only with speculations about the greatness Amir could have achieved for Pakistani cricket and himself. The only thing which could have ever stopped Amir was Amir himself or perhaps mental health. A waste, indeed.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2020.

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