Salman Butt

Salman Butt (Urdu: سلمان بٹ ‎, born 7 October 1984) is a Pakistani cricketer and YouTuber who currently plays for Lahore Qalandars. He is a former captain of Pakistan cricket team who was previously banned for five years for his involvement in 2010 spot-fixing scandal.

Salman Butt
سلمان بٹ

Personal information
Full name	Salman Butt
Born	(1984-10-07) 7 October 1984 Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off spin
Role	Opening batsman
International information
National side	Pakistan (2003–2010)
Test debut (cap 178)	3 September 2003 v Bangladesh
Last Test	26 August 2010 v England
ODI debut (cap 150)	22 September 2004 v West Indies
Last ODI	19 June 2010 v India
ODI shirt no.	1
T20I debut (cap 18)	2 September 2007 v Bangladesh
Last T20I	6 July 2010 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2000/01–2004/05	Lahore Whites
2001/02	Lahore Blues
2000/01–2007/08	National Bank of Pakistan
2006/07	Lahore Shalimar (squad no. 8)
2004/05–2006/07	Lahore Eagles
2008	Kolkata Knight Riders
2009	Lahore Lions
2019 - present	Lahore Qalandars
2019 - present	Central Punjab
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 33 78 121 202 Runs scored 1,889 2,725 8,020 8,432 Batting average 30.46 36.82 39.90 46.32 100s/50s 3/10 8/14 22/32 23/47 Top score 122 136 290 150* Balls bowled 137 69 1,096 547 Wickets 1 0 13 10 Bowling average 106.00 – 56.30 50.00 5 wickets in innings 0 – 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 – 0 0 Best bowling 1/36 – 4/82 2/26 Catches/stumpings 12/– 20/– 50/– 56/–
Source: Cricinfo, 23 March 2019

He had been a regular Test and ODI left-handed opening batsman. He made his Test debut on 3 September 2003 in the third Test against Bangladesh, and a year later, made his ODI debut against West Indies on 22 September 2004. He was appointed captain of the Pakistan Test squad on 16 July 2010.

On 29 August 2010, he was implicated in allegations of spot-fixing. On 31 August 2010, he was stripped of the Pakistan captaincy, and removed from the ODI Squad pending criminal proceedings. He was banned from playing cricket for ten years, of which five years was a suspended sentence.[1] In November 2011, he was convicted and jailed for 30 months for conspiracy charges relating to the spot-fixing, along with Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif.[2] On June 21, 2012, he was released from jail.

In August 2015, bans on Butt and fellow conspirators Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were lifted by the International Cricket Council, allowing them to return to all forms of cricket from September 2, 2015.[3][4]

Career

Early career

Butt started in the Under-17s and quickly progressed through Under-19 level, although at that time he was much younger than the age limits suggest, making his senior debut for Lahore Whites in 2000 aged only 15. His talent was noticed immediately, which led to him being given a place in the Pakistan A team against England soon after. However, instead of rushing straight for the limelight of international cricket, he got his head down and consolidated by playing consistently for his region and the youth teams, until the Pakistan selectors finally drafted him in 2003.[5]

International cricket

After his debut, Butt was dropped, and he struggled to regain his place due to some stiff competition for the openers' spots. He returned for the Champions' Trophy in 2004 and scored his first fifty for Pakistan in the Paktel Cup against Sri Lanka. In the ODI against India on 13 November 2004, as Pakistan chased down 292, he formed partnerships first with Shoaib Malik, putting on 113, and subsequently with Inzamam-Ul-Haq. Despite having retired for seven overs due to severe cramp, he returned to steer Pakistan home, finishing on 108 not out.[6]

Yet 2005 saw little improvement, and doubts circulated about his defensive technique, causing him to be shuffled in and out of the side. But things started looking up again during the winter Test series against England, in which he scored a century and two fifties, with a more cautious attitude to his innings building than he had previously shown.[7]

For his performances in 2008, he was named as 12th man in the World ODI XI by the ICC.[8]

Appointment as Test captain

On 17 July 2010, the Pakistan Cricket Board appointed Butt as captain of the Pakistani Test squad in place of Shahid Afridi, who announced his retirement from Test cricket after Pakistan lost the first test match against Australia.[9] He became the 28th captain of the Pakistani Test team and the fifth to lead them since January 2009.[9]

On 23 July 2010, Salman Butt led Pakistan to victory against Australia in his first appearance as Pakistan's test team captain.

Spot-fixing scandal

In August 2010, Butt and two other players, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, were among those named by a News of the World sting where undercover reporters paid an agent loosely affiliated with several players on Pakistan's squad a bribe in return for detailed information on when no-balls would be bowled.

Butt, Amir, and Asif were dropped from the Pakistan team for the limited-over series (two Twenty20 games, and five ODI games). However, on 2 September 2010, after the warm-up List A game between Pakistan and Somerset, the International Cricket Council announced that they had suspended Asif, Amir and Butt under the provisions of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. The statement from the ICC stated that the three players were charged "under various offences under Article 2 of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code for Players and Player Support Personnel relating to alleged irregular behaviour during, and in relation to, the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at Lord's last month".[10]

Later it became known that Butt and the other two players implicated in the scandal were in possession of bills with the same serial numbers as those the reporter had paid Majeed earlier. Butt was provisionally suspended from playing International Cricket due to the fact that the ICC wanted his name cleared before he resumed playing cricket. In late September, Butt filed an appeal to the ICC asking them to lift his temporary suspension.[11] After Mohammad Asif had dropped his appeal against the charges so that he could understand the charges filed against him, Butt said he was determined to prove his innocence and that his appeal was going to go ahead.[12]

In an interview with the Associated Press, Butt stated "I do not want to comment on The News of the World because everybody knows what kind of paper it is. Everybody knows about its reputation across the world." He also stated that he was linked to Mazhar Majeed as a player agent but not in any spot-fixing. He also stated that the video can easily be edited and modified and manipulated.[13] One day before the hearing, Butt continued to state his innocence.[14] The tribunal announced that a verdict on the decision had been deferred to 5 February 2011 and that the ICC also stated that the tribunal would rule on charges pertaining to the third Test match between England and Pakistan. Butt was the only player before the tribunal to face these additional charges.[15]

On 5 February 2011, the three-man tribunal delivered its verdict. One charge was dismissed against Butt from the third Test match (batting out a maiden over), but the other charges (failing to report an advance from the third Test match and ordering Asif and Amir to bowl no-balls in the fourth Test) were proved, and Butt was banned from the sport of cricket for ten years, five of which were suspended should he not commit any further offences and participate in a Pakistani Cricket Board anti-corruption program.[16]

Return to domestic cricket

In January 2016, the PCB allowed Butt to play in the National One Day Cup, in which he played for WAPDA and scored 536 in 7 matches at an average of 107, ending up one of the leading run-scorers in the tournament. He was the man of the match in the final of the 2016–17 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, scoring a century in both innings. WAPDA won the title.[17] During the 2017-18 National T20 Cup he jointly with Kamran Akmal set the world record opening partnership in T20 history of unbeaten 209 runstand, surpassing the previous highest opening partnership of 207 in any form of T20 cricket held by Joe Denly and Daniel Bell-Drummond.[18][19][20][21][22] The record runstand was also the third highest partnership in terms of runs for any wicket in T20 history.[23]

In April 2018, he was named in Sindh's squad for the 2018 Pakistan Cup.[24][25] He was the leading run-scorer in the 2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam One Day Cup, with 559 runs in ten matches.[26] He was also the leading run-scorer for Water and Power Development Authority in the 2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, with 610 runs in ten matches.[27] In March 2019, he was named as the captain of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's squad for the 2019 Pakistan Cup.[28][29]

In September 2019, he was named in Central Punjab's squad for the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament.[30][31]

In December he was selected to play for the Falcon Hunters in the inaugural Qatar T10 League. In his first game he made 39 of 27 and with 5 needed of he last ball hit a Miandad-esque 6 leading his team to victory. https://www.republicworld.com/sports-news/cricket-news/qatar-t10-salman-butt-does-a-javed-miandad-hits-six-off-the-last-ball.html

Playing style

An accumulator, Butt works hard for his runs, not indulging in too many big hits; his statistics show the low number of 19 international sixes to date (1 September 2010) of which he's scored 10 in Twenty20 cricket, 7 in One-Day Internationals and only six in Test cricket.[32] He scores a lot of his runs between backward point and extra cover. He uses his superb wrist work to angle the bat, placing the ball into gaps using the pace of the ball to his advantage; a very good technique for ODIs where it is best to keep the scoreboard ticking all the time. He also has the ability to cut the ball very fine down to third man if there are no slips, especially against spin bowlers, as he showed to great effect in his above-mentioned innings of 108 not out. These are his specialties, but he has large range of shots. However, many commentators have expressed that his defensive technique has flaws, and that he is prone to playing at balls outside off-stump which should be left.[33]

See also

• List of cricketers banned for match fixing

References

1. "Match-fixer pockets £150k as he rigs England Test at Lord's". News of the World. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
2. "Pakistan cricketers guilty of betting sca". BBC News. 1 November 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
3. Amir, Asif, Butt free to play all cricket from September 2
4. "ICC confirms sanctions against Asif and Butt will expire on 1 September 2015". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
5. "Salman Butt: Opening the Future of Success". Cricketfundas.com. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
6. "Inzamam and Salman Butt sink India!!". YouTube. 28 March 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
7. "Cricinfo – Players and Officials – Salman Butt". Content-usa.cricinfo.com. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
8. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/369272.html
9. Osman Samiuddin. "Salman Butt named captain for rest of England tour". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
10. "ICC suspend trio under anti-corruption code". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
11. "Salman Butt appeals against ICC suspension". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
12. "Spot-fixing controversy: Salman Butt determined to prove innocence | Pakistan Cricket News | ESPN Cricinfo". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
13. "Spot-fixing controversy: News of the World Sting not reliable, says Salman Butt | Pakistan Cricket News | ESPN Cricinfo". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
14. "'I am not guilty and I am very sure about it' – The Express Tribune". Tribune.com.pk. 29 October 2010. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
15. "Spot-fixing controversy: Tribunal defers spot-fixing verdict till February 5 | Pakistan Cricket News". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
16. "The spot-fixing scandal: Butt out for 10 years, Asif 7 and Amir 5 | Cricket News | Cricinfo ICC Site". ESPN Cricinfo. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
17. "Butt ton secures WAPDA's maiden title". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
18. "27th Match, National T20 Cup at Rawalpindi, Nov 24 2017 | Match Summary | ESPNCricinfo". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
19. "Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal set opening record in Pakistan's National T20 Cup". hindustantimes.com/. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
20. "Kamran Akmal, Salman Butt create record for highest T20 partnership for opening wicket". The Indian Express. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
21. "Kamran Akmal, Butt blitz record opening stand in Lahore win". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
22. "Records | Twenty20 matches | Partnership records | Highest partnership for the first wicket | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
23. "Records | Twenty20 matches | Partnership records | Highest partnerships for any wicket | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
24. "Pakistan Cup one-day tournament to begin in Faisalabad next week". Geo TV. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
25. "Pakistan Cup Cricket from 25th". The News International. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
26. "Quaid-e-Azam One Day Cup, 2018/19: Most runs". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
27. "Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, 2018/19 - Water and Power Development Authority: Batting and bowling averages". Retrieved 22 November 2018.
28. "Federal Areas aim to complete hat-trick of Pakistan Cup titles". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
29. "Pakistan Cup one-day cricket from April 2". The International News. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
30. "PCB announces squads for 2019-20 domestic season". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
31. "Sarfaraz Ahmed and Babar Azam to take charge of Pakistan domestic sides". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
32. "PAKISTAN PLAYER PROFILES | Sporting Life – Cricket News | Live Cricket Scores, New Zealand v England, CB Series, Live Coverage & Stats". Sporting Life. Retrieved 6 February 2011.

External links

Salman Butt at ESPNcricinfo

Preceded by Shahid Afridi	Pakistani national cricket captain (Tests) 2010	Succeeded by Misbah-ul-Haq