Salman Butt likely to be Pakistan's next vice captain

Salman Butt likely to be Pakistan's next vice captain

Salman Butt, the Lahori-born opener from the Pakistan cricket team has emerged as the favourite to win the coveted position of the vice-captaincy for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka followed by the England tour as well. Ijaz Butt, who is the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board, along with Mohsin Hasan Khan, the chief selector for the team, recommended Salman Butt’s name for the position of vice-captain. Coach Waqar Younis and Captain Shahid Khan Afridi, who have been recently appointed by the PCB for the forth coming tournaments, have also agreed with the move.

According to sources, the final announcement will be made towards the end of this week along with the rest of the team for the Asia Cup by Ijaz Butt.

The left-handed opening batsman has served as a vice-captain of his team in the past as well. Initially in 2007, Salman Butt worked as the vice-captain of the Pakistan cricket team. However, he was removed within a short time period without clarifying the reasons for his dismissal.

The PCB decided to go for Salman Butt as it is still not confirmed that whether Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and Younis Khan will be able to take part in the upcoming series due to fines and bans imposed by the board. In the present scenario, Salman Butt was the best available option according to the Pakistan Cricket Board. According to media critics and experts, Salman’s appointment as the vice-captain of Pakistan is of immense importance. On the other hand, they are still uncertain of Afridi’s elevation as a Test captain. Shahid Afridi will really have to work hard in order to prove his critics wrong. The hard hitter has been appointed as the captain for all versions of the game in spite of the fact that he has not played a test match since 2006.

It seems as if the board as well as the PCB selectors are themselves confused about Afridi’s talent as a test captain so they have promoted Salman Butt onto the pedestal as well. The strategy seems quite clear that in case Afridi failed to justify his place in the Test squad, the team will have a back up captain in the form of Salman Butt.

The left handed batsman has played a total of 125 matches with 27 Tests, 76 ODI’S and 22 T20 matches. Salman Butt is one of the few players of his team who possess an excellent educational background.

After being appointed as the vice-captain, Salman will now have to play with a sense of responsibility, keeping his own form and fitness at a constant level. He will have to focus more on his batting technique as well as his strategy in order to avoid early dismissals in a match. There is no doubt that Salman Butt is growing as a mature professional with every passing day and his role will be of utmost significance for the entire nation in the upcoming series against Australia and England. The player has shown consistent performances in the recent past.

Salman Butt has been given a great opportunity by the PCB and he can surely learn a lot from serving under Shahid Afridi and the senior management. His performance in the T20 World Cup has changed every one’s perception about him. With his hard work and dedication, Butt has proved the critics wrong who had blamed him for being an unfit player for the shorter format of the game.

His tremendous knock in the T20 World Cup has surely helped him towards his promotion in the side. With an average run rate of 44.60, Butt was the third highest run scorer in the T20 Championship with 223 runs to his credit. Throughout the tournament, the left hander’s strike rate remained well above 131.07 runs per 100 balls.

Salman Butt has a lot of cricket left to play. The stylish left handed player has got ample time to learn and develop himself into a good leader in order to lead his team from the front in future.

Youngsters should be in Asia cup

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Captain Shahid Afridi was of the view that young players should be included in the squad for the Asia Cup to be held in Sri Lanka from June 15.

While talking to the media Afridi said that to win Asia cup is his main target and he added, we should have atleast three to four new players along with the seniors so that we can strike the right balance in the one-day side.

“It is right time to start grooming and giving exposure to some of our young lot because we also have to keep the 2011 World Cup in mind," Afridi said.

Replying to a question he said that he didn't want to comment on the inclusion of Shoaib Malik in the team because it is solely a matter of Pakistan Cricket Board. Selection of player should be completely on merit, he further said.

Tendulkar comes to aid of bed-ridden friend

Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar arriving in Ahmedabad on Wednesday in the role of a Good Samaritan.

Ahmedabad: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has come to the rescue of his friend Dilbir Singh, who had been bed-ridden since a near fatal accident in 2002, by sponsoring his treatment.

He also came to the city to meet him today after his successful hip-replacement surgery at Shelby Hospital.

Tendulkar had played under-17 cricket with Singh and both are close friends, Singh's sister Sukhbir Kaur said.

"Dilbir has been suffering since his accident in 2002. But now with the hip-replacement his life would be normal again. I am very thankful to Sachin for all his help and support throughout these years," she said.

Pakistan lawmakers direct PCB to lift cricketers ban

Pakistan's lawmakers on Monday asked cricket authorities to review the decision about banning top national players.

Lower house Sports Committee Chief Iqbal Muhammad Ali advised Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt to reconsider his decision of banning top national cricketers.

"There should be equal treatment for all, if you want to punish them than punish all otherwise forgive all of them," directed committee chairman while responding to former captain Younis Khan's complaint that he was discriminated to be banned for indefinite period.

The Pakistan Cricket Board banned two former captains Younis Khan and Muhammad Yousaf for indefinite period, Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan for one year and imposed a fine of two million rupees on Shoaib Malik and Rana Naveed, three million rupees on wicket keeper batsman Kamran Akmal, 2 million rupees on his brother Umer Akmal and 3 million rupees on Shahid Afridi for defeat against Australia earlier this year.

"This is totally unfair and not a way to correct the affairs. If you find a player indiscipline, punish him then and there instead of setting up inquiry after the series," the committee chief ruled while also ordering to waste the video records of the inquiry against the players.

PCB last week leaked the videos of this inquiry in a suspicious manner leading to speculations that the board management wanted to divert the criticism on selection of national T20 squad following its defeat from Australia in World Championship semi final.

Ijaz Butt disclosed during the meeting that he was under tremendous pressure to give serious punishment to Shoaib Malik and forgive others but he had refused to accept this pressure.

He said he would consult PCB board of governors and chairman of its appellate tribunal to forgive the players.

"I would act upon members of governing board and appellate tribunal advice in this regard," he said.

He also praised Younis Khan saying he was a true patriot and action against him was taken to beat the infighting in team.

Earlier, the Chief Operating Officer of PCB Wasim Bari briefed the legislators about inquiry report.

He said that team was gripped in grouping and seniors had serious differences among them while various juniors had been involved in clashes.

The committee also advised PCB for construction of a stadium in Islamabad and to resolve its land dispute with Capital Development Authority. By Mir Mohammad

Super Stars Pakistan all-time XI

Three fast bowlers have been picked unanimously in Cricinfo's all-time Pakistan Test XI. Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Imran Khan each received 10 votes from a jury that included Ramiz Raja and Intikhab Alam among others. The only other unanimous selection was Javed Miandad, in the middle order.

No current Pakistani player makes it to the side - unlike in five of the six all-time XIs named by Cricinfo so far. The most recent retiree was Inzamam-ul-Haq, who is at No. 5 in the order, with nine votes. Mohammad Yousuf, who received four votes, and Shoaib Akhtar (one) were among those who didn't make the cut.

Historically fast bowling has been Pakistan's strength, and it is a sign of how highly the fearsome and influential spearheads of the side's 1990s attack were rated that both were picked unanimously. While the two Ws made the XI purely as bowlers, Imran also serves as the side's allrounder. There was no consensus over the third quick bowler, though: Fazal Mahmood, who received three votes, edged out Sarfraz Nawaz and Shoaib Akhtar.

Wasim Bari and Rashid Latif were tied with four votes each for the wicketkeeper's place. Latif was picked for his superior batting.

The jury opted for an opening combination that would provide a mix of strokeplay and stoic defence: Saeed Anwar (six votes), who attacked no matter what the format or situation, and Hanif Mohammad (nine), who gave up his naturally aggressive style and dug in for several marathon innings to complement the stroke-making of his team-mates.

At one-down is Zaheer Abbas (six), the only Asian batsman to make over 100 first-class hundreds.

Only two members of the jury did not pick Abdul Qadir, who revolutionised legspin in the 80s and paved the way for the likes of Shane Warne and Anil Kumble, as the team's lone slow bowler.

Qadir also made it to the readers' XI, getting more than half the votes polled in the spin category, comfortably ahead of Saqlain Mushtaq. Latif narrowly missed getting the gloves in the readers' XI, losing out to Bari. The readers preferred Shoaib as the third fast bowler over Fazal. All their other choices matched those of the jury.

The jury included Salahuddin Mulla, who played Test cricket for Pakistan in the 1960s, cricket writers Qamar Ahmed (who also played first-class cricket and coached Netherlands) and Kamran Abbasi, and former administrators Shaharyar Khan, Arif Abbasi and Chishty Mujahid.

The XI: Hanif Mohammad, Saeed Anwar, Zaheer Abbas, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Javed Miandad, Imran Khan, Rashid Latif, Wasim Akram, Fazal Mahmood, Abdul Qadir, Waqar Younis

The readers' XI: Hanif Mohammad, Saeed Anwar, Zaheer Abbas, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Javed Miandad, Imran Khan, Wasim Bari, Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Abdul Qadir, Waqar Younis.

The nominees

Openers: Aamer Sohail, Hanif Mohammad, Saeed Anwar, Majid Khan, Mudassar Nazar, Sadiq Mohammad, Mohsin Khan.

Middle order: Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Mohammad Yousuf, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saleem Malik, Mushtaq Mohammad, Younis Khan, Asif Iqbal, Saeed Ahmed.

Allrounder: AH Kardar, Imran Khan, Intikhab Alam, Mushtaq Mohammad, Wasim Akram.

Wicketkeepers: Wasim Bari, Imtiaz Ahmed, Rashid Latif, Moin Khan.

Fast bowlers: Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Fazal Mahmood, Sarfraz Nawaz, Shoaib Akhtar.

Spinners: Abdul Qadir, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Iqbal Qasim, Danish Kaneria