Pakistan bowling coach Waqar Younis believes it would be challenging for paceman Mohammad Amir to return to international cricket without first impressing domestically.

Amir resigned from the international competition in December, claiming that his teammates and coaches led him to mental anguish.

The left-arm fast bowler has met with little success in the recent Pakistan Super League.

He allegedly spoke with Pakistan Cricket Board chief executive Wasim Khan earlier this year, sparking talk of a return before the October Twenty20 World Cup.

“No question he's a good Cricketer, although it will be difficult if he doesn't want to pull his retirement back and please selectors by playing Cricket,” Younis told reporters via videoconference from England on Monday.

“It's Pakistan Cricket, neither yours nor mine; you must do the right things to play for your nation. Cricket, it's not a franchise, and you must keep that in mind.” Younis stated that he was unaware of any meeting between Khan and Amir.

“To be truthful, I had no clue about this (meeting),” he admitted. “He (Khan) is the head of Cricket, but he has every right to interact with anyone he wants; he went there in his capability, and we were unaware of it.”

Amir played for Karachi Kings in the PSL, however, he only took five wickets at an average of 69.80 in 11 matches. Karachi was eliminated after losing both of its playoffs.

Amir collected 259 wickets in 36 Tests, 61 One-Day Internationals, and 50 Twenty20 Internationals.

He was 18 when he was suspended for five years and sentenced to three months in prison for spot-fixing in a Test series in England in 2010. He was permitted to return to cricket a few months earlier and Pakistan recalled him in 2016.

In 2019, he decided not to play Tests to concentrate on white-ball cricket and extend his international career.

Amir's most recent international appearance came in a T20 against England in August 2020.

Given the fact that Pakistan's bowlers have had less than ideal practice circumstances ahead of their white-ball series against England bowling coach Younis is optimistic they would be up for the challenge.

The Pakistan squad will play three One-Day Internationals (ODIs), beginning with the day/night opener in Cardiff on Thursday, and three Twenty-Twenty-Innings (T20Is), was in controlled isolation since arriving in the UK from the UAE. Even though the players were authorized to train throughout the seclusion time, their preparations were hindered by bad weather.

“We've been unlucky in that the weather hasn't been great here,” Younis, the team's bowling coach, said.

“The bowlers have responded brilliantly to whatever opportunities we have had. We got some outside practice, and the bowlers fared well,” Waqar was quoted as saying by the cricinfo website.

Pakistan attempted to play intra-squad games too, but they were hampered by the weather.

The players also had to adjust to the climate in the United Kingdom after arriving from the UAE, which was quite hot.

“We're coming from extremely hot weather [in the UAE, where the majority of Pakistan's team participated in the PSL], but it's difficult to shift from four-over cricket (bowling periods) to 10-over cricket. But they're terrific bowlers, so I'm happy. We didn't require a long tune-up because they were arriving from hot weather.”

Pakistan's bowling attack in England would be led by the veteran Shaheen Shah Afridi, who's the PSL's third top wicket-taker, and Hasan Ali, who has been the team's finest fast bowler since his comeback earlier this year. Though these two have been in terrific form, there are concerns about Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, and spinner Shabad Khan, whom all had a poor PSL season.

Waqar Younis has "great expectations" that his bowlers would do well against England.