Former Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir has declared his intention to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2026.
Amir, who was part of the Pakistan team’s 2009 T20 World Cup and 2017 Champions Trophy wins, believes he will be eligible for the league next year.
"Next year tak meri opportunity ban rahi agar hua to kyu nahi. I will play in the IPL," Amir said on Pakistani YouTube show Haarna Mana Hai.
Amir is in the process of obtaining a UK passport through his wife, Narjis, who is a British citizen. If he gets UK citizenship, he won’t need a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which has been a barrier for Pakistani players in the IPL.
The 32-year-old expressed his admiration for Virat Kohli and shared a personal memory from 2016, when the Indian cricketer gifted him a bat before a T20 World Cup match in Kolkata.
"Virat is great and admires talent. Virat gifted me his bat, and I was overwhelmed by his action," Amir recalled. "I have always been a great admirer of his batting, and he is of my bowling. I played some good knocks with his bat."
Amir has also said he would love to play for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), sparking discussions among fans and analysts about whether the team could benefit from his left-arm pace.
One X user commented, "Pakistani players can give up their citizenship to play in the IPL."
Another took a dig at Amir’s past involvement in spot-fixing, writing, "Fixer hai to CSK ya RR ke liye sahi rahega."
His name remains linked to the 2010 spot-fixing scandal, where he, Mohammad Asif, and then-captain Salman Butt were caught in a News of the World sting operation. Amir, only 19 at the time, deliberately overstepped in a Test match against England at Lord’s. Amir was convicted in the UK, jailed briefly, and banned by the ICC for five years.
After serving his suspension, Amir returned to international cricket and delivered a match-winning spell in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against India. However, his career took another turn in 2020 when he retired from international cricket, citing differences with the PCB.
