In 2016, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt made a return to professional cricket after he had been banned on match-fixing charges six years prior. Butt, along with Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, had been given bans for their involvement in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal. Butt had made a strong return in Pakistan’s domestic cricket, however, producing consistent performances in the Qaid-e-Azam Trophy as well as the National T20 Cups; however, Butt was never considered for selection in Pakistan’s national team.
The former skipper eventually retired from the game in 2020, and in a video on his official YouTube channel, opened up on his return to cricket and his struggles to find a place in the Pakistan squad again.
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“Inhone 30 and above waale players ko discourage karna shuru kiya. Aisa attitude dikhaaya ki banda khud hi chala jaaye, apni izzat bachaaye aur side me ho jaaye. (They started discouraging players above 30. They showed bad attitude and forced the players to leave themselves),” Butt said on his official YouTube channel.
“Mujhe pehle se hi inki baaton se ye cheez feel honi shuru ho gayi thi. Isliye maine pehle saal ke baad bhi faisla kar liya tha. Maine 9 matches me 900 runs kiye the. Maine Kamran Akmal ko bhi bola tha aap bhi bas karo. Unhe idea nahi tha, par fir unhone jo kiya unke saath, that’s a lot worse. Unke jaisa player deserve nahi karta aisa. Communication ka art hi nahi hai inke paas. (I knew how it was going to be, that’s why I left. I scored 900 runs in 9 matches in Quaid-e-Azam trophy. I told Kamran Akmal to leave as well, but he didn’t have an idea about it. He didn’t deserve to be treated this way. There’s no channel of communication),” Butt further said.
The former Pakistan skipper went on to attack the Pakistan Cricket Board on poor team selection.
“Saara Pakistan ka talent saamne hain, he still can’t pick best XI. Jo middle-order unn logo ne banaaye World Cup me, 2.5 saal unko defend karte rahe. Lamba score nahi karna hai, 25 run karne hain bas. Unhone toh milke bhi 25 nahi kiya hai pressure matches me. Apni team banti nahi hai unse, nichli teams banaane chale hain. (The talent is in front of you, yet you can’t pick the best XI. You kept defending the middle-order for past 2.5 years, told them to score 25 runs and that’d be enough. All of them couldn’t score 25 runs combined when they came under pressure.)
“6 teams ke jo coaches hain, vo kis cheez ke coaches hain? Iss system se aap leadership talaash kar rahe hain jo bathroom bhi upar phone karke jaate hain. Kya nikaala hai inn logo ne? (The coaches of our 6 domestic teams, what are they? You are trying to find leadership in a system where they even ask their superiors if they can go to toilet.),” said the former Pakistan skipper.
