Lashing out at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), out-of-favour batsman Salman Butt has claimed that some players have been added to the team on the basis of their connections.
Meanwhile, the southpaw added that many players have made a comeback to the team without any significant performance.
“I know players who have been added to the team because of their connections and there have been several players who have made numerous comebacks without giving any meaningful performances,” Butt said as quoted by PTI.
“Are these things different from corruption. We shouldn’t even talk about integrity in Pakistan cricket,” he added.
Butt had served a five-year ban for the spot-fixing scandal during Pakistan’s outing to England in 2010. After this, the left-hander made a successful comeback to the domestic cricket and the PSL but is yet to be recalled to the national team.
It is no secret that in 2016, the then Pakistan head coach Waqar Younis wanted Butt in the team but Shahid Afridi, the then skipper of the limited-overs format, opposed having him in the team.
“Punishment implies that once you have served the time, you should be treated like any other player. Where does their integrity go when they are in the mix and working with those people? Or when they endorse players because of their connections,” asked Butt.
When asked about Javed Miandad’s suggestion that tainted players should be hanged, Butt refrained himself from commenting.
(With inputs from PTI)