"I will do my utmost to once again win the hearts of Pakistan fans" : Salman Butt

[FreePalestine]

best way to win Pakistan fans is by going away...

Yeah man, I can't stand this guy anymore. Does anyone see these guys coming back? Asif, Salman, Kamran. Dodgy group of players!!

 

[FreePalestine]

This is a man who orchestrated match fixing as captain, betraying his team, his fans and his country. This man played the system till the end and in an ultimate display of cynicism that still staggers me, accepted his guilt only when he realised it would help his career. In an equitable world, now that he has served his punishment, he would be told to #$## off and never show his face near a cricket game again. However....



.....here lies an inevitable, irrefutable truth, and it will be interesting to see how Butt plays it.

Yeah, but as you say, their sense of remorse and their roles, circumstances were different. I don't think both are equally guilty.

Both have served their time, but Butt was the guiltier party and Pakistan should be perfectly in their right not to pick him on that basis, for me.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

We lost a cool tactician who did not have attitude arrogance issues with his players.

Wish 2010 did not happen.

 

[Speedster777]

We lost a cool tactician who did not have attitude arrogance issues with his players.

Wish 2010 did not happen.

tactician that's the word for him. He would have been one of the best captains to play for Pak had he been an honest man. He's still good enough to be selected as an opener. Better than Azhar Ali , Hafeez , Shehzad , Khurram any day.

 

[Hasan123]

We lost a cool tactician who did not have attitude arrogance issues with his players.

Wish 2010 did not happen.

We also lost 2 fantastic bowlers. A sad day for Pakistan cricket

 

[Hasan123]

Your going to need to do a lot than Salman

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

tactician that's the word for him. He would have been one of the best captains to play for Pak had he been an honest man. He's still good enough to be selected as an opener. Better than Azhar Ali , Hafeez , Shehzad , Khurram any day.

Amongst these he may only be inferior than Hafeez in UAE & subcontinent while will outperform all others.

Yes I loved his Captaincy and again He has left a mark even after 6 years with Wapda in final.

 

[Junaids]

We lost a cool tactician who did not have attitude arrogance issues with his players.

Wish 2010 did not happen.

I agree, but while I respect the end of the ban and would have him in the Test team, I just don't think he can ever be given the captaincy again.

Firstly, it's a leap too far.

Secondly, he is 32. I am hoping that Mickey Arthur gets to build his own team when Misbah retires three weeks from now, and I know Arthur well enough to know that he would want the era of carrying Test players aged 35+ to end.

For me, the tragedy yesterday was watching Salman Butt score his 16 not out in the final five overs.

Pakistani batsmen always seem to struggle to play off-side shots, because home and UAE wickets are slow and low enough for them to "do a Rameez Raja" and play those balls onto the legside.

Consequently when Pakistan batsmen leave Asia they are either strokeless (Azhar Ali, Sami Aslam, Misbah) and score slowly and then get out for 10 off 40 balls, or else they play poor shots outside off-stump and get caught (Mohammad Hafeez and Sharjeel Khan if he gets a game).

I have only seen three Pakistan batsmen with a proper range of offside shots in the last 25 years.

Those 3 batsmen who were competent on the offside were Saeed Anwar, Salman Butt and Umar Akmal. And interestingly NOT Inzamam and not Mohammad Yousuf, and Younis Khan was quite marginal too in his youth and is hopeless now.

Salman Butt didn't buy his way to the GOAT Pakistan batsman in Australia numbers. He got there because he had a sound defence and could actually score off balls outside off-stump without taking crazy risks. Don't just look at his runs output but also his balls faced in Australia:

17 (55)
9 (25)
70 (99)
0 (2)
108 (185)
21 (27)
45 (113)
33 (71)
71 (164)
21 (31)
102 (234)
8 (16)

I like Sami Aslam and Azhar Ali and they would both be in my Test team. But opening together they bog the team down, so that even if it takes Josh Hazelwood until his 5th over to strike, Pakistan will still be 12-1 in the 10th over.

If Salman Butt was opening ahead of Azhar Ali we could hope that they would instead be 35-1 in the 10th over.

I hadn't seen Salman Butt bat in whites for over 6 years until last night's QEA Final. And I had forgotten how fluent his off-drives, cover-drives and cuts were.

And Pakistan is really handicapping itself going into an Australian tour without that.

 

[Ellipsism]

tactician that's the word for him. He would have been one of the best captains to play for Pak had he been an honest man. He's still good enough to be selected as an opener. Better than Azhar Ali , Hafeez , Shehzad , Khurram any day.

Because his performances suggest he is better than Azhar.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

I agree, but while I respect the end of the ban and would have him in the Test team, I just don't think he can ever be given the captaincy again.

Firstly, it's a leap too far.

Secondly, he is 32. I am hoping that Mickey Arthur gets to build his own team when Misbah retires three weeks from now, and I know Arthur well enough to know that he would want the era of carrying Test players aged 35+ to end.

For me, the tragedy yesterday was watching Salman Butt score his 16 not out in the final five overs.

Pakistani batsmen always seem to struggle to play off-side shots, because home and UAE wickets are slow and low enough for them to "do a Rameez Raja" and play those balls onto the legside.

Consequently when Pakistan batsmen leave Asia they are either strokeless (Azhar Ali, Sami Aslam, Misbah) and score slowly and then get out for 10 off 40 balls, or else they play poor shots outside off-stump and get caught (Mohammad Hafeez and Sharjeel Khan if he gets a game).

I have only seen three Pakistan batsmen with a proper range of offside shots in the last 25 years.

Those 3 batsmen who were competent on the offside were Saeed Anwar, Salman Butt and Umar Akmal. And interestingly NOT Inzamam and not Mohammad Yousuf, and Younis Khan was quite marginal too in his youth and is hopeless now.

Salman Butt didn't buy his way to the GOAT Pakistan batsman in Australia numbers. He got there because he had a sound defence and could actually score off balls outside off-stump without taking crazy risks. Don't just look at his runs output but also his balls faced in Australia:

17 (55)
9 (25)
70 (99)
0 (2)
108 (185)
21 (27)
45 (113)
33 (71)
71 (164)
21 (31)
102 (234)
8 (16)

I like Sami Aslam and Azhar Ali and they would both be in my Test team. But opening together they bog the team down, so that even if it takes Josh Hazelwood until his 5th over to strike, Pakistan will still be 12-1 in the 10th over.

If Salman Butt was opening ahead of Azhar Ali we could hope that they would instead be 35-1 in the 10th over.

I hadn't seen Salman Butt bat in whites for over 6 years until last night's QEA Final. And I had forgotten how fluent his off-drives, cover-drives and cuts were.

And Pakistan is really handicapping itself going into an Australian tour without that.

Agree.


To develop his team he has to come to Pakistan like Bob Woolmer.

There is a reason why Bob Woolmer wanted Mohammad Asif and Ali Imran Pasha in his team. He had the eye which Imran Khan had but he saw players with his own eyes and he judged their potential.

Mickey has to watch some domestic matches from the ground the way Bob did and he has to analyse players at NCA.

Pakistan needs a 3rd opener. Sharjeel hasn't been tested yet. Even wrt Azhar it isn't sure whether he will remain opener or whether he will have to move to number 3 in future especially after this tour and after retirement of Misbah and Younis.

Also Mickey should be central figure in my view while deciding who amongst the following players will replace Younis and Misbah in the squad and in the playing eleven in future :


1. Saud Shakeel

2. Mohammad Waqas Snr

3. Usman Salahuddin

4. Fawad Alam

5. Asif Zakir

6. Haris Sohail

7. Naveed Yasin

8. Umar Akmal

9. Akbar ur Rehman

10. Kamran Akmal

11. Agha Salman

12. Sarmad Bhatti

 

[Junaids]

Because his performances suggest he is better than Azhar.

Yes.

They always did.

Salman Butt and Azhar Ali are the same age. Butt s literally only 4 months older than Azhar is.

Butt for 5 years Salman Butt was in the Test team and rose to captain it, after stellar performances v Australia in Australia and England. While Azhar was only just breaking into the team just as Butt's criminality struck.

It strikes me that it has always been stark staring obvious that Salman Butt is a better batsman than Azhar Ali

 

[Junaids]

Agree.


To develop his team he has to come to Pakistan like Bob Woolmer.

There is a reason why Bob Woolmer wanted Mohammad Asif and Ali Imran Pasha in his team. He had the eye which Imran Khan had but he saw players with his own eyes and he judged their potential.

Mickey has to watch some domestic matches from the ground the way Bob did and he has to analyse players at NCA.

Pakistan needs a 3rd opener. Sharjeel hasn't been tested yet. Even wrt Azhar it isn't sure whether he will remain opener or whether he will have to move to number 3 in future especially after this tour and after retirement of Misbah and Younis.

Also Mickey should be central figure in my view while deciding who amongst the following players will replace Younis and Misbah in the squad and in the playing eleven in future :


1. Saud Shakeel

2. Mohammad Waqas Snr

3. Usman Salahuddin

4. Fawad Alam

5. Asif Zakir

6. Haris Sohail

7. Naveed Yasin

8. Umar Akmal

9. Akbar ur Rehman

10. Kamran Akmal

11. Agha Salman

12. Sarmad Bhatti

I think that Mickey Arthur has already given the answer to that away in a recent interview. I don't think it's my wishful thinking - I think it's going to be Umar Akmal.

There is a cultural chasm here. Shahryar Khan clearly hopes to have somebody relatively educated take over - he'd have liked Shan Masood except we have all seen that his technique is a disaster. So he'd like Imad Wasim instead.

Mickey Arthur is much more like Bob Woolmer. He wants the players with the best skills and is happy to work on their deficits and on their attitudes.

We have seen the idea of picking average but hardworking veterans completely discredited in Australia. Younis and Misbah have lost 7 of their last 9 Tests outside Asia, and if the next generation of older players is inferior ones like Fawad Alam or Kamran Akmal then the course is set straight towards a trainwreck.

I don't watch any domestic Pakistan cricket, but I follow the scores closely.

I am hoping that Younis and Misbah both depart in three weeks' time.

And I'd like the batting in the next Test post Younis and Misbah to be:

1. Sami Aslam
2. Salman Butt
3. Azhar Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Asad Shafiq
6. Umar Akmal
7. Sarfraz Ahmed (c/wk)
8. Mohammad Nawaz (in Asia) / Hasan Ali (outside Asia)
9. Yasir Shah
10. Mohammad Amir
11. Mohammad Asif

I think that that is currently Pakistan's strongest side.

My development players in the squad would be:
Mohammad Rizwan
Saud Shakeel
Amad Butt

My other reserves would be:
Wahab Riaz
Rahat Ali

 

[sam_ahm]

I don't see any reason to stop Salman and Asif from playing for Pakistan again, very good posts on this thread, Salman has once again shown that he is a fine tactician and strategist by taking WAPDA into the finals. Asif is still brilliant when there is life in the pitch.

Salman is 32, Misbah made his comeback into the team at 33 in 2007, Hussey came into the Australian team when he was 30-31, and recently we have seen players have increased their fitness levels, and are now very much capable of playing till they are 38-39. Salman can still play for Pakistan for another 6 years. Asif probably till the next World Cup in 2019 (another 2.5 years).

Even Kamran Akmal, after his performances should be selected in the team, Rizwan is young, so what, he is not performing, let him go back to domestic cricket and earn his place in the side, exactly like how Kamran has done. You've got to pick players in form, otherwise there is no point in having a domestic competition.

If you watch tennis, in the era of Sampras and Agassi, 30 was pretty much the retiring age, now if you see players like Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, they are all 30 and above, but still at their peak, in case of Roger he is still capable of making the semis and finals and losing out only to Novak or Murray. Del Potro has comeback after a long lay off, he is 28 and has spoken about carrying on for another 5-6 years. Age is no longer a barrier in sport as long as you are fit and performing.

 

[MenInG]

Pakistan's former captain Salman Butt made a number of attempts to make a return to the international circuit when his ban – following match-fixing charges – was lifted in 2015. However, all proved to be unsuccessful. Butt did perform impressively in domestic cricket in Pakistan, Butt had played in the National One Day Cup in 2016 where he scored 536 runs in seven matches, and in the T20 Cup a year later, forged a 207-run opening stand alongside Kamran Akmal in a game. Butt also ended as the leading run-scorer at the 2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam One Day Cup, but wasn't considered for national selection.

Eventually, Butt withdrew his name from the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy when domestic cricket returned in Pakistan following the Covid-19 lockdown, saying that he understands he doesn't “have a future with Pakistan.”

Nearly two years since then, Butt has opened up on the ordeal during an interview with ARY News, where he talked about his conversations with former national captains-turned-selectors Misbah-ul-Haq and Inzamam-ul-Haq over a possibility of a return to Pakistan. Butt revealed that he never received a satisfactory answer from any of the two.

“Everyone said that it was the management's decision. When Misbah was captain, I talked to him and he said, 'yaar meri koi sunta hi nahi hai.' When he was chief selector, I met him again. He told me to perform in the department cricket. I scored 905 runs in 9 matches. I called him twice and he didn't answer. Then I left it. I realised my performances weren't getting valued,” Butt said.

“I asked him (Inzamam) a lot of times, but never received a satisfying answer. Sometimes, I was told, 'yaar tum kisi bade se sifaarish karao'. But I didn't do that.”

When asked if references do work in Pakistan cricket, Butt had a rather blunt reply. “If he's saying, it must be true. It wasn't the case when I was captain,” he said.

Butt's last professional appearance was in March 2020 when he appeared for the Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League. In May 2022, he was appointed as a consultant coach of the Singapore men's cricket team.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...th-misbah-inzamam-ul-haq-101664712586271.html

 

[MenInG]

“They started to discourage players who were above 30 years of age": Salman Butt

Salman Butt:

“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),”

“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. They don't know how to communicate with players)

 

[Ami]

Challo...tussi reh gaye si.

 

[MenInG]

I am with PCB on this.

But then they allowed likes of Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik to play so not sure just age the criteria