Salman Butt continues to impress on his domestic return

One of the banned Pakistani trio Mohammad Amir is currently in New Zealand representing his national team while the other two are representing WAPDA in the National One Day Championship, a domestic competition organized under PCB. On one hand, amplified performances by Mohammad Amir earned him a national recall and on the other hand another important character of the spot-fixing saga Salman Butt and cashing in on his chance to redemption. 135 on second birth in domestic cricket, followed by another 99* in the next match. Match after match, it was only his confidence and run tally that grew.

After the conclusion of the group stage of the tournament, Salman Butt is the leading run-scorer with 536 runs from 7 innings at a whopping average of 107.20. He crossed 50 in five of those innings scoring one hundred and three 90s, only Kamran Akmal has scored more in this tournament. He has stayed on the crease for 717 balls, also the most by any batsman in the championship, though his strike rate 74 has been the only thing on the low side.

Salman may be tipped as the ring leader of the spot-fixing saga but keeping that chink aside, his return has been flawless and consistent. If Mohammad Amir can be back after impressive performances in different formats, why can’t Salman Butt. Mohammad Amir became the ‘Golden Boy’ of PCB after his imposing return to the domestic cricket in Grade-II cricket and then again in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Qualifying Round and the Main Round. He was also impressive in the Bangladesh Premier League. Salman though has featured in only one tournament since his return but he has raised a serious case in the court of Pakistani selectors who fast-tracked Amir’s case. If Amir can make an early return based on his domestic performances then surely Salman Butt, much more experienced than Amir, has a strong case.

Mohammad Asif, on the other hand, had a pretty middling return. 7 wickets in as many games at a strike rate 44 balls per wicket. His economy rate 3.70 has been the best by any bowler who has bowled at least 30 overs in the championship.