PCB fires Salman Butt after backlash

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Saturday fired former batter Salman Butt within 24 hours of hiring him as a “consultant members” to chief selector Wahab Riaz after the decision drew severe criticism from the cricketing fraternity.

“People were talking all sorts of stuff about me and Salman Butt. Therefore, I am reverting the decision and I have already spoken to Salman Butt and I have told him that he cannot be part of my team,” Riaz told reporters at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

“Some media houses and people are resorting to propaganda. Since we’re working under the chairmanship of Zaka Ashraf in a transparent manner, I am thankful to the board for allowing me to choose the people I want to work with.”

The board had Friday appointed former cricketers Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal, and Rao Iftikhar Anjum as members of the selection committee led by Riaz.

These were part of a slew of changes across the team’s management structure, which began following Babar Azam stepping down as captain and the appointment of Mohammad Hafeez as team director.

The PCB’s decision to appoint former skipper Butt didn’t sit well with social media users. Many fans opposed the appointment due to his role in the spot-fixing scandal in 2010.

In 2011, he was sentenced to 30 months in prison and banned from playing for 10 years for being involved in conspiracy to bowl deliberate no-balls during a 2010 Test match against England at Lord’s.

Melbourne hero and former cricketer Sarfraz Nawaz said that such appointments would take national cricket back to those eras when match-fixing was rampant.

In response to a question, Riaz clarified that appointing Butt was solely his decision, but he was revoking it due to “propaganda”.

“There is no pressure on me. I had made a decision and I am revoking it,” Wahab Riaz says

More to follow…