Salman Butt takes a swipe at hypocrites questioning tainted players' return

Pakistan’s batsman Salman Butt, while speaking to a local news channel on Monday, took a swipe at the critics who questioned the return of tainted players to the national fold.

The 35-year-old claimed that if a player had served his punishment, he should be treated like every other player.

“As per the law that exists, players should be treated equally. Punishment implies that once you have served the time, you should be treated like any other player. I try not to get into this issue but I want to ask people who are talking about this whole episode. Where does their integrity go when they are in the mix and working with those people? Where does their integrity go when they endorse players who get selected because of their connections and take the spot from deserving players? Where is their integrity when Pakistan cricket suffers because of the inabilities of these players who come into the side?” Butt said.

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The opening batsman further stated that it was the responsibility of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to deal with these issues while claiming that individual players had no right to speak on the matter.

“They should talk after giving it some thought. If everyone starts saying things, then there would be no end. There have been many players who were added because of their connections as the 15th man in the squad. There have been several players making comebacks without any meaningful performances. I don’t take names but it is what it is. This issue is for the ICC and the PCB to handle and players have no right to speak on it,” he concluded.

Earlier, former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad had lashed out at the PCB for forgiving players involved in spot-fixing. While speaking in a YouTube video, Miandad stated that such players should be hanged for bringing their country’s name into disrepute.

Pakistan’s veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez had also questioned the possible return of tainted batsman Sharjeel Khan into the national side. The all-rounder had asked if a player’s corrupt past should be overlooked if he has a decent skill set.