Sipu Jha
The verbal duel between Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Kaif has intensified during the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, with the former Pakistan pacer strongly responding to criticism from the former India batter.The exchange began after Kaif suggested that Amir had been making provocative remarks about India simply to gain attention during his analysis of the tournament on Pakistani television channels. Amir has repeatedly sparked debate since the start of the competition. He earlier described Abhishek Sharma as a “slogger” and also predicted that India would fail to reach the semi-finals.Those remarks did not go down well with Kaif, who argued that such statements should not be taken seriously as Amir was merely trying to stay in the spotlight by targeting India.Amir, however, fired back sharply on his YouTube channel, questioning Kaif’s credentials and suggesting that the former India cricketer should be grateful to Sourav Ganguly for backing him during his playing days. The left-arm pacer also mocked Kaif’s batting record in franchise cricket and claimed that the Indian had represented the national team largely because of his fielding abilities.“I don’t know about his cricketing career, how much he’s played. I checked his stats; he just played 29 matches in the IPL. He has a strike rate of 103. He said that I was speaking about India to gain some attention. Firstly, I don’t need to get attention by speaking about India. Mr Kaif, I have played 350 T20s, you can check my stats. Moreover, main bas fielding pe cricket nahi khela (I didn’t play cricket just due to my fielding),” said Amir.“I have played after giving performances. Aap Dada ko thank you bole (You should be thankful to Dada, Sourav Ganguly). I have heard that you played cricket only because of your fielding. You are a cricketer; these sorts of statements don’t suit you,” he added.Amir also clarified that his comments were not meant to target India personally. According to the 33-year-old, he had previously rated India highly when senior stars such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja were regulars in the T20 side.“There was nothing to feel bad about. It was just a case of giving opinions. I am doing so, and you are as well. When Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja were there, I always used to pick India as favourites,” Amir said.“Right now, I don’t think they are favourites. I don’t know where this comment about me being an attention seeker has come from. You have played fewer T20S than I have. Even I can say that you spoke about Mohammad Amir to gain some attention in Pakistan,” he added.Earlier, Kaif had also questioned Amir’s credibility by pointing to his performance in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, particularly Pakistan’s disappointing outing against the USA in the group stage.Kaif represented India in 13 Tests and 125 ODIs, scoring more than 3,000 runs across the two formats. Although he never played a T20I, he featured in 75 T20 matches and scored 1,237 runs. He was also part of the Rajasthan Royals squad that won the inaugural Indian Premier League title in 2008 and later worked as an assistant coach with the Delhi Capitals under Ricky Ponting.Amir, on the other hand, enjoyed a successful international career with Pakistan, playing 36 Tests, 61 ODIs and 62 T20Is and claiming a total of 271 wickets across formats.
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