Is Pakistan Cricket Ready for Another Blow By Reconsidering Salman Butt?

It is difficult to forget the embarrassment Pakistan had to face when the caption of its own cricket team betrayed the country, his colleagues and the people of the country by fixing the match at the ground of Lord, England in 2010. Unfortunately, the Pakistan Cricket Board is considering the same former caption, Salman Butt to be an important part of its team.

Moral values and law are the two basic points that help people make the important decisions especially in Pakistani society which is indeed a mishmash society. Here decision making can be a lengthy process because we don’t fully put up with the laws nor do we hold its rich enlightening values in correspondence and spirit.

The alarming rumors about Salman Butt’s return to the cricket team are swirling these days. His expected selection is rumored for the upcoming ODI series with West Indies that is slated to be held in United Arab Emirates in the last week of September, 2016. The most irritating thing about the topic is that the PCB has been “zipped its mouth tight” on the topic so far.

On the other hand, the player himself appears to be optimistic and owns to his good fitness and better form with the bat in domestic cricket.  The 31-year-old player is permitted by law to make efforts for his return to the national cricket team while the PCB can also legally reconsider him to select for the game. It is worth mentioning, the former test caption has already undergone the punishment that was sentenced by the court in the United Kingdom following the alleged match in 2010. He also completed the rehab process that was declared obligatory for him by the Pakistan Cricket Board to make a comeback with domestic level cricket.

According to the majority of cricket experts, if the rumors about Salman’s return to international cricket have any substance, then the board should be ready to answer the questions that will be coming from the fans of the game who believe in moral values and corruption-free cricket.    

Meanwhile, in the case of Mohammad Amir’s comeback, the experts and cricket fans widely expressed that he was the youngest among the three alleged-men. He completely cooperated with the investigation teams and has had sentenced his punishment and completed the rehab process and so, deserves a second chance.  This entire optimistic and positive attitude helped Mohammad Amir comeback with full grace and enough confidence though he too faced some negative remarks from his own team mates in the first matches after his comeback.

It is also expected that many of those will reconsider Salman because of his academic background and good communication skills. However, the PCB doesn’t have any valid logic to bring Salman back to the team for representing the country. The authorities have to understand it is important to draw a line to disallow the corrupt element in order to flourish the game in a clean and controversy-free environment.

Cricket is so much inbuilt in Pakistani society and any wrong decision by the authorities at the helm can affect the whole social structure in one go. The possible return of the opener will be a hard occasion to persuade thousands of young candidates to remain honest to their duty.