PCB under fire for appointing ‘tainted’ Salman Butt
LAHORE (Muddasar Iqbal Chaudhary)- The Chief Selector of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Wahab Riaz clarified the status of Salman Butt’s involvement with the team and addressed the ongoing speculation surrounding his potential appointment.
Riaz highlighted that Salman Butt did not partake in the team selection process for the upcoming tour of Australia. Contrary to the circulating reports, Butt’s participation in the decision-making for the tour was absent, indicating his non-involvement in the selection proceedings.
Further shedding light on the situation, Riaz affirmed that while Butt’s appointment had been under consideration, a firm decision had been reached after thorough deliberation.
The final verdict, as declared by the chief selector, settled on not appointing Salman Butt as a consultant member, thereby ending the speculation surrounding Butt’s potential role within the PCB.
Earlier, the PCB had named former cricketers Kamran Akmal, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, and Salman Butt as consultants to Chief Selector Wahab Riaz.
Scheduled to commence their duties immediately, the trio was slated to oversee the upcoming five-match T20 International series in New Zealand, with additional responsibilities during the Skills Camp on non-selection days.
Salman Butt, who was previously involved in a match-fixing scandal, sparked public outrage and drew disapproval from higher circles.
The appointment of Salman Butt — who was convicted and banned for spot-fixing in 2010 — as a member of the men’s national selection committee has triggered a controversy leaving former cricketers shocked by the development.
In a surprise move, the Pakistan cricket board (PCB) on Friday announced that former international cricketers Kamran Akmal, Rao Iftikhar Anjum and Salman Butt have been hired as “consultants” to chief selector Wahab Riaz.
Expressing his utter surprise, the Melbourne hero Sarfraz Nawaz said that such appointments would take national cricket back to those eras when match-fixing was rampant.
The former Test fast bowler said he could not believe his eyes when he read the handout issued by the PCB.
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“All my life I have been fighting against this menace and had to shift to England under growing life threats from the mafia. When I came to know that the PCB is making no difference in clean and tainted players, I was shocked.”
Sarfraz said that these tainted players have sold the country’s image and played with Pakistan’s prestige.
“Why were these even considered for any post under the present regime? I am seriously thinking of writing a letter to PCB Management Committee chairman Zaka Ashraf highlighting the issue which will bring a bad name to Pakistan cricket,” Nawaz lamented.
“This is not an ordinary decision but one that will have far-reaching implications. It is something serious. Look for what these tainted cricketers are there to help the chief selector in picking the talented players for future international commitments. I am afraid that such a practice would leave a bad image on the country’s cricket. That should not have happened. It is very unfortunate that tainted players were included on the panel. It is also against the NA/Senate Committees findings and recommendations.”
He stated that there are numerous clean players around with the likes of Shoaib Mohammad, Mohammad Sami and many others who could have made a real difference if added to the selection panel.
Sarfraz also advised Mohammad Hafeez to resign immediately from the post of director coaching as he was on record to have said that he would never work in the company of tainted players in any board set-up.
