Don't think cricket welcomed me in a way others were: Salman Butt

Pakistan’s former opening batter Salman Butt was banned for being part of the spot-fixing scandal in the year 2010. He was one of the players who was banned for their involvement in spot-fixing 2010 Test match against England at Lord’s. Butt has now recounted the instance and asserted that he was told to get ready for the Test match on many occasions but it all appeared as false hopes.

Apart from Butt, pacer Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were also punished for their involvement in the scandal. Amir, however, made his comeback into the Pakistan team in February 2016. On the other hand, Butt never donned the national jersey again.

I was told to get ready to play Test cricket but it never came along: Salman Butt

The former batter had a purple patch in the domestic circuit and that built up the hopes of him getting back to the Pakistan side. Butt however pointed that he wasn’t given the opportunity to play for Pakistan again and thus he felt that there was no point playing domestic cricket. He also added that he wasn’t welcomed like some other players and that he had nothing to prove in the domestic circuit.

“Every now and then I was told that you’re going to Australia, you’re going to England but it never happened. Even before the tour of the West Indies, I was told to get ready to play Test cricket but it never came along. I thought that if I am not going to play for Pakistan again then there is no use of playing domestic cricket. It’s just like beating the drum again and again and ending up at the same place,” in an interview on Curtly Ambrose’s YouTube channel.

“Yes, there was a mistake and I had a bad time. But I really don’t think that cricket welcomed me in a way the others were. I served a five-year ban and came back but I wasn’t given the same luxury as others. What’s the point in serving a five-year ban if they wouldn’t treat me equally? There are people who were not straight to me. I would have loved it if someone had the guts to tell me that it’s not going to happen. I trained every day for six years thinking that I will make a comeback. It doesn’t make any sense,” he concluded.