'Keep your standards high' - Salman Butt takes a dig at PCB after Kamran Akmal's T20I snub

Former Pakistan men’s cricket team captain Salman Butt who was suspended in 2011 after several charges of spot-fixing against him was proven right. He, along with Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, had received bribes from bookies during Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010.

Butt was banned from the sport of cricket for 10 years, five of which were suspended since he did not commit any corruption-related offences and also participated in the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) anti-corruption program.

Butt was allowed to play domestic cricket in Pakistan in 2016 and he has been one of the greatest performers with the willow in various domestic competitions of the country. Despite his good run of form, he has been overlooked by the selectors for the national team, raising some eyebrows.

Salman Butt advises Kamran Akmal to get “used to” not being selected

On Thursday, PCB announced the T20I squad for the series against Bangladesh. There came many surprises as Amir, who retired from Test cricket to concentrate on the white-ball game, was not picked up. Also, despite recalling old horses like Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez, once-regular wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was not picked. Many believe that after the omission of Sarfaraz Khan, Akmal deserves a chance.

Taking to his official Twitter, Akmal expressed his disappointment over not getting selected and wrote, “Hurt&heart broken for not being considered 4 team. i have really worked hard ..anyways i won’t give up i will work harder & would like to thank everyone who supported me jazak Allah thank you.”

And much to the surprise of cricket fans, 35-year-old Butt commented under his post, taking a dig at the selectors and the PCB. He wrote, “Still not used to it ??? Fun apart keep doing the good things keep ur standard high keep the fire in Urself iA ALLAH will reward.”

In the 2016 National One Day Cup, the first domestic tournament that Butt played after coming back from suspension, he scored 536 runs in 7 matches and finished as one of the leading run-scorers. He also emerged as the highest scorer in the 2018-19 Quaid-e-Azam One Day Cup with 559 runs in 10 matches. In the first-class competition same year, Butt was the leading scorer for his team Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) with 610 runs in 10 matches.

Meanwhile, the 16-member squad picked by PCB for the T20I series against Bangladesh will have three uncapped players and will be lead by Babar Azam. The three-match T20I series will be played between January 24 and 27.

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