No One Had The Guts To Tell Me It’s Not Going To Happen: Butt

Pakistan’s former cricketer Salman Butt was suspended in 2010 for his involvement in the spot-fixing controversy. He was among the suspended players for their role in a spot-fixing scandal during a 2010 Test match vs England at Lord’s. Butt has now recalled the incident, claiming that he was repeatedly told to prepare for the Test match, but it all turned out to be false hope.

In addition to Butt, pacers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were sentenced for their roles in the incident. After the incident, Mohammad Amir returned to the Pakistan cricket team in February 2016. Butt, on the other side, never wore the national jersey anymore from there.

I wasn’t given the same luxury as others after coming back: Salman Butt

The former player had a good run in the domestic circuit, which raised expectations of his return to the Pakistan side. Butt, on the other hand, stated that he was not given the chance to perform for Pakistan afterward, thus he thought there was no benefit in continuing for the domestic cricket. He also stated that he was not greeted as warmly as other players and that he would have nothing to show on 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”, Butt said in an Interaction.

“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,” he added.

“Yes, there was a mistake and I had a bad time. But I really don’t think that cricket welcomed me in the 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.