Can Salman Butt's comeback be an inspirational fairy tale story?

[Savak]

This is all hypothetical right now but lets assume

He performs admirably and consistently for LQ and brings much needed maturity and stability in their batting.

He wins a few Man of the match performances

He actually leads LQ once ABD leaves as I don't think there are other captaincy options

He makes a strong case for a comeback to the Pakistan team and lets face it, after Azhar Ali's disasterous performances in SA, Salman Butt still has a chance, this is Pakistan Cricket and anything is possible

I will have to say his case and example will be much more inspirational than Amir because unlike Amir, he was not spoon fed and fast tracked back into the team.

Unlike Amir he actually went to an actual prison

He was ostracized and lost out on earnings in the last 10 years. Massive loss of face, reputation in Society.

But Butt never gave up, he went about working hard in domestic cricket day in day out over the last 3 years, never missed a single game.

I personally think the talk of punishing him forever is getting old now and it would be inhuman to punish him forever. I am actually happy he is getting a fair opportunity now and should be given the same opportunity as Amir.

The same should apply to Asif as well.

 

[Rana]

I think the ship has sailed for him, its too late for anything really. LQ have been gracious in allowing him a chance to make some decent money to support his family who may have suffered a lot because of his mistakes. This is fine, he should just be thankful to the Almighty that he has been given this chance. No more expectations and entitlement.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Could be if he scores against Mickey's Karachi Kings.

But the PCB has been ignoring him deliberately and they will keep doing that.

 

[rhony]

Forget about fixing for a sec. How's he a T20 bat? He had an awful SR of 78 in ODIs and 113 in T20s.

 

[Boi]

Hes going to fail big time.

 

[Savak]

Could be if he scores against Mickey's Karachi Kings.

But the PCB has been ignoring him deliberately and they will keep doing that.

But the PCB hasn't actually been ignoring him, he was on the verge of being selected for the 2016 T-20 WC but Afridi blocked the selection and threatened to quit if Butt got picked. Then he was on the verge of being selected for the 2017 WI tour but the Sharjeel-Khalid Latif episode forced them to backtrack.

The PCB had no issues and LQ I am sure would have asked the PCB before going ahead with this decision.

 

[RickyG]

Another attempt at attention seeking. Cricket doesn't owe anything to Salman Butt. You might have a soft spot for him because of your Lahore connection but quit trying to force it down everyone else's throat.

 

[pakistani pride]

Hes going to fail big time.

This.
He is a pathetic T20 bat.

During his so called prime just watch his innings vs NZ in the WT20.. nough said!

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Don't think this was the right move by LQ. There's a reason he wasn't selected in the PSL. Rather than getting a dynamic young player they've settled with a glorified has been who has a T20 SR of 113. Can't ignore his horrendous T20I SR of 107 either

 

[Savak]

Another attempt at attention seeking. Cricket doesn't owe anything to Salman Butt. You might have a soft spot for him because of your Lahore connection but quit trying to force it down everyone else's throat.

Lol, I have no Lahore connection, I have a human connection.

 

[mastersaan10]

This selection shows why Lahore will be at the bottom for the fourth time in a row and why Pakistan needs a u-25 tournament. Uncles with no chance of a Pakistan future will play in domestic while youngsters yearn for their chances.

 

[Savak]

Social Media is congradulating Butt for his comeback. Certainly overwhelming public perception has changed or they don't really care that much anymore.

 

[RickyG]

Lol, I have no Lahore connection, I have a human connection.

Okay then I really don't know why he's your personal hero. You're glorifying the fact he went to prison. As if he is Nelson Mandela fighting for a humanitarian cause.

He lost out on earnings because he committed a crime, you seem to have conveniently forgotten that.

This spot could've gone to a deserving player like Kamran Ghulam. People that have the best interest of Pakistan cricket at heart are actually disappointed while you celebrate.

 

[Chokli]

Salman Butt has no place in the current test XI

he has a horrible test player when he did play.

the only format where he was useful was odis

 

[ads101]

Social Media is congradulating Butt for his comeback. Certainly overwhelming public perception has changed or they don't really care that much anymore.

Surprised no one said it, but I wouldn't surprise this is a move in order to soften Sharjeel coming back. Who's going to be complaining about Sharjeel when Butt's back and if Pak don't win the world cup especially there will be calls to bring him back given that I think his ban will be done just after the world cup (if the 2.5 years is suspended).

 

[Ilan Bluestone]

He's too old to be brought back as it is, not good enough, and was the central figure in the debacle itself. No way he should come back.

Amir though wrong and punished did have age on his side but wasn't the mastermind behind it all, though you could argue that he shouldn't have been brought back either to be fair.

 

[Shaka81]

No more like a dystopian nightmare. Where he brings corruption and fixing to the PSL. All while performing terribly as a cricketer.

 

[Sher Khan]

Salman is a similar type of player to imam, although he is technically better. But imam Is much younger and has potential.

It's a tough ask for Salman to get into th team.

 

[Savak]

He's too old to be brought back as it is, not good enough, and was the central figure in the debacle itself. No way he should come back.

Amir though wrong and punished did have age on his side but wasn't the mastermind behind it all, though you could argue that he shouldn't have been brought back either to be fair.

Lol all the present players in the Pakistan team and some ex test players are showering him with congradulations and messages of Support. Only person who hasn't said anything is Afridi

 

[Cric1234]

He will do well to make one fifty in the tournament never a match winner in T20s and not great in any format nothing really to be seen here.

 

[Ilan Bluestone]

Lol all the present players in the Pakistan team and some ex test players are showering him with congradulations and messages of Support. Only person who hasn't said anything is Afridi

What does that have to do with anything?

 

[Markhor]

Imam-ul-Haq finished Salman Butt's international career.

He plays Butt's old role of anchoring an innings from the top and producing gritty innings. I'd say Imam is much better in adverse conditions whereas Butt sometimes used to ask groundsmen to shave the grass off the pitch before domestic matches.

 

[Hasan123]

He won't play for Pakistan again.

 

[aukhan]

As long as Inzi is there he still has chance.

Inzi has a soft corner for all fixers.

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

Imam-ul-Haq finished Salman Butt's international career.

He plays Butt's old role of anchoring an innings from the top and producing gritty innings. I'd say Imam is much better in adverse conditions whereas Butt sometimes used to ask groundsmen to shave the grass off the pitch before domestic matches.

Yeah, with the innings in Ireland and whatnot, Imam is better than Butt I reckon.

I think this guys time is over now. The best that can happen is as you said few decent performances for Lahore, maybe becomes a regular face in their setup for next 2-3 seasons, maybe 4-5 then realises himself his time is over and hangs up the boots. After that the best that can happen for him is management job with LQ (hypothetically assuming, he spends next 2-3 seasons with them on back of good performances).

 

[topspin]

He will do well to make one fifty in the tournament never a match winner in T20s and not great in any format nothing really to be seen here.

He was the third top scorer in the 2010 WT20 with an average of 44.60 at a strike rate of 131.17.

I despise what Salman Butt did, but that is no reason to bash him as a batsman. Also he's far better than the likes of Brendan Taylor and Agha Salman.

 

[Savak]

I think today was a sign of nerves. This was a very big moment in his life. Should do better from here on out. His role is to stabilize and bat through the innings and to provide a platform for the hitters

 

[Cric1234]

He was the third top scorer in the 2010 WT20 with an average of 44.60 at a strike rate of 131.17.

I despise what Salman Butt did, but that is no reason to bash him as a batsman. Also he's far better than the likes of Brendan Taylor and Agha Salman.

It must've been a one off he's never been a great batsmen yet to see why he played that many matches for Pakistan in all 3 formats and what his hype is nothing to do with match fixing just his batting ability.

 

[Hawkeye]

Poor LOI player.

Worse than Sahibzada Farhan.
[MENTION=2501]Savak[/MENTION] hoping and praying for a miracle.

 

[Chokli]

He was the third top scorer in the 2010 WT20 with an average of 44.60 at a strike rate of 131.17.

I despise what Salman Butt did, but that is no reason to bash him as a batsman. Also he's far better than the likes of Brendan Taylor and Agha Salman.

yeah that was the only time where it looked like he could become a good t20 batsman

but he's not consistent, he plays far too many dot balls and puts the pressure on other batsmen.

we should have scored more than 200 in the world t20 2010 semi final if he didn't approach the match as a odi.

but anyway

i guess we can cut him some slack for today since it's his first match.

 

[topspin]

It must've been a one off he's never been a great batsmen yet to see why he played that many matches for Pakistan in all 3 formats and what his hype is nothing to do with match fixing just his batting ability.

Yeah these days he's well past his prime, I'm just saying the statement about him never being a match winner just isn't true and as a matter of fact he was actually on the ascendancy before he got caught with the spot-fixing. Along with his 2010 WT20 performances, he was a star performer in Pakistan's test tour of Australia (end of 2009 to Jan 2010) and during the home leg against them in England a few months later.

Far too many people cling on to his career stats and yes it's average reading but remember he did debut in the 2000s against better bowlers and never had any opportunities to cash in on bowling graveyards in UAE. Hafeez debuted around the same time as him but funnily enough his stats were far worse in the 2000s because he was technically inferior but took full advantage of Pakistan's UAE era (2010 - present) when he replaced him.

Technically Salman was a sound batsman against pace and bounce, both on the front and back foot. He was a big loss to Pakistan cricket and his presence was sorely missed during the 2011 WC. Hence why I despise him for what he did 9 years ago but we cannot allow a player's sins cloud our judgement of them as cricketers.

 

[topspin]

yeah that was the only time where it looked like he could become a good t20 batsman

but he's not consistent, he plays far too many dot balls and puts the pressure on other batsmen.

we should have scored more than 200 in the world t20 2010 semi final if he didn't approach the match as a odi.

but anyway

i guess we can cut him some slack for today since it's his first match.

Today he did actually show intent but it was a poor dismissal and looked a bit low on practice. He is well past his prime, so this is expected.

We have to remember he's in the XI to replace Hafeez and does he make the team on merit? Yes he does because he's better than a fair few batsmen in his side like Agha Salman (who is just awful), B.Taylor, Devcich, Braithwaite and etc who are far worse. I've never been convinced with Haris Sohail in T20s even though he's so tehnically gifted, so I don't believe he's any better than him.

I wouldn't mind seeing Saad Ali however take Salman Butt's place in the side but I can understand why management are reluctant to play him because he's only played 9 T20s at professional level. If Salman fails in the following games for LQ, I hope he'll be ready to fill the void in the batting line up.

See the above in reference to the remainder of your post.

 

[UmarMalik]

He hasnt played enough competitive cricket to stage a fairy tale come back. Nor do I think he’ll get a decent opportunity with Qalandars to find form

 

[Chokli]

his real age is 34....35 later in october.

i wouldn't mind him as an ODI back up opener

 

[Chokli]

Far too many people cling on to his career stats and yes it's average reading but remember he did debut in the 2000s against better bowlers and never had any opportunities to cash in on bowling graveyards in UAE. Hafeez debuted around the same time as him but funnily enough his stats were far worse in the 2000s because he was technically inferior but took full advantage of Pakistan's UAE era (2010 - present) when he replaced him.

Technically Salman was a sound batsman against pace and bounce, both on the front and back foot. He was a big loss to Pakistan cricket and his presence was sorely missed during the 2011 WC. Hence why I despise him for what he did 9 years ago but we cannot allow a player's sins cloud our judgement of them as cricketers.

this is true, he really would have cashed in on the UAE days.... we probably would have won more games too

hafeez was pretty solid during those years and a pairing of salman and hafeez would have been very strong.

2011 and 2015 wc, we missed him in both.

his average of 36 was solid for his time and he was only getting better

 

[jazbati]

this is true, he really would have cashed in on the UAE days.... we probably would have won more games too

hafeez was pretty solid during those years and a pairing of salman and hafeez would have been very strong.

2011 and 2015 wc, we missed him in both.

his average of 36 was solid for his time and he was only getting better

The reason we moved to UAE was largely because of Mr Butt himself. Otherwise we were all set to play our home games in UK.

 

[pakistani pride]

Its all too fast for the poor guy. Chasing 200 in a T20 game he was batting at 80 odd SR.