The war of words is heating up between Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Kaif. The former Pakistan pacer hit back at the former India batter after the latter said that Amir is just trying to gain some “attention” by regularly speaking about India in his analysis for the T20 World Cup 2026. Ever since the beginning of the tenth edition of the tournament, Amir has managed to get under the skin of the Indian fans. At first, he labelled Abhishek Sharma as a “slogger”, and then he ruffled some feathers by predicting that India would not reach the semi-finals of the tournament.
Amir’s comments didn’t sit well with Kaif, who said that one shouldn’t pay attention to whatever the former says on Pakistani channels because he wants to become the centre of attention by making provocative statements against India.
The former Pakistan pacer has now traded barbs at Kaif, saying the former India batter should be thankful to Sourav Ganguly for giving him a chance in the playing XI. He also took a dig at Kaif, saying the player got to represent India just because he was a good fielder.
Amir did not stop there, saying he has played way more T20 matches than Kaif and hence has the right to comment on every team and speak his mind during analysis.
“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 on his YouTube channel.
“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.
‘Even I can say’
Amir also clarified his stance, saying he doesn’t have anything against India and that in the past he had rated the squad very highly when the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja played for the Men in Blue in T20S.
The 33-year-old also said that even he can say that Kaif wants to gain some attention in Pakistan by making remarks against Amir.
“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,” said Amir.
“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 cited Amir’s performance in the 2024 T20 World Cup and his failure to get the job done against the USA in the group stage match.
Kaif played 13 Tests and 125 ODIs for India, scoring more than 3,000 runs across the two formats of the game. He did not play a single T20I for India; however, he did play 75 T20 games, scoring 1,237 runs. He was also a part of Rajasthan Royals’ inaugural IPL-winning squad in 2008. He also has experience as a support staff member at the tournament, having spent time with the Delhi Capitals as Ricky Ponting’s assistant coach.
On the other hand, Amir represented Pakistan in 36 Tests, 61 ODIs, and 62 T20Is, taking 271 wickets across the three formats.
