News
Salman Butt removed as consultant following backlash
Follow UsThe former Pakistan skipper was appointed as one of the consultants to the chief selector, but the decision was reversed within 24 hours
A day after being appointed as one of the three consultants to the chief selector, Salman Butt has been removed from the post after plenty of backlash, Wahab Riaz confirms. Chief selector Riaz confirmed the news on Saturday (December 2).
Along with Butt, former cricketers Rao Iftikhar Anjum and Kamran Akmal, too, were named consultants, with their first assignment being the five-match T20 International (T20I) series against New Zealand, starting January 12, 2024.
Riaz, who is an active cricketer himself, says he picked Butt to be a part of his team given his good cricketing mind.
"People started talking all sorts of stuff about me and Salman Butt. It was my decision to have Salman Butt as a consultant because he is a good cricketing mind. I am now reversing that decision. I have already informed Salman Butt that he cannot be part of my team. But personally, I think people have to move on as he has served his sentence," Riaz, a former Pakistan pacer, told reporters in Lahore on Saturday.
Butt, who has played 33 Tests, 78 ODIs and 24 T20Is for Pakistan, was the captain when the spot-fixing scandal broke out in 2010 while on a tour to England. Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, too were involved, and all of them received bans. Butt, who was banned for 10 years, also served a prison sentence in the UK.
