The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has named former captain Salman Butt, infamous for his role in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal, as one of the consultants in the national selection panel, along with former international teammates Kamran Akmal and Iftikhar Anjum.
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The trio’s maiden assignment as consultants to the newly appointed chief selector Wahab Riaz begins when Pakistan play New Zealand in a five-match T20I series after the Australia tour.
While Akmal, who held the chair of the Junior Selection Committee in early 2023, and Ajnum, who was a part of the selection committee headed by interim chief selector Shahid Afirdi last year, have had experience being members of the selection panel, Butt’s appointment will raise some eyebrows.
The appointment marks the return of Butt to an official PCB role for the first time since serving a ban due to his involvement in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal. Butt, Pakistan captain at the time, was the mastermind of the operation, with Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif deliberately bowling front-foot no-balls in the Lord’s Test against England. All three served lengthy bans and jail time after the incident. While Amir, 18 years old at the time of the incident, returned to play international cricket, neither Asif nor Butt played for Pakistan again, though both featured in domestic cricket.
Butt represented Pakistan in 53 Tests, 157 ODIs and 58 T20Is.
