Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has sacked former cricketer Salman Butt from the selection committee, chief selector Wahab Riaz announced in a presser on Saturday.
PCB confirmed the appointment of former cricketers Kamran Akmal, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, and Salman Butt as consultant members yesterday.
However, a decision has been made to take Salman Butt’s name back after the decision drew severe criticism from the cricketing fraternity.
Wahab stressed that it was he who made the decision to include Butt in the committee and now he is taking to remove him. “The decision to take Salman Butt’s name back is solely mine.”
“Salman Butt has served his time, people have to move on now. They are instead running agendas against myself and against Salman, and a few media houses are involved in running agendas. People were accusing me of nepotism too,” he added.
“I was getting criticised for appointing Salman But with an allegation of preferring friendships. I didn’t want this to happen for which I reverted back my decision on Salman Butt,” he maintained.
Meanwhile, Wahab cited the examples of Indian cricket where players like Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja have taken roles.
“In India, we have examples of Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja. They are working in cricket now and there is no fuss. Azharuddin is president of one of the cricket associations and Jadeja was Afghanistan’s batting consultant in the World Cup,” Wahab added.
