Since the lifting of the five-year ban in the spot-fixing case, Salman Butt has scored runs in T20 cricket for the Lahore Whites at an average of 51.28 since 2016.
Last year, he was selected by Central Punjab but he could not make it to the final XI.
According to popular website Karak Info, Babar Azam, Ahmed Shehzad, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal are in the top order of the Central Punjab team and in view of this, Salman Butt had requested the Pakistan Cricket Board to include him in another team. But his request was rejected and he was forced to sit on the bench.
This year, the PCB chief selector made Abid Ali part of the squad and thus Salman Butt was dropped, but due to Ahmed Shehzad’s injury and Umar Akmal’s ban, Central Punjab needed additional players.
His head coach Shahid Anwar added under-19 players Abdullah Shafiq and Qasim Akram to the squad and Salman Butt was added to the second XI to lead but now after his refusal, 24-year-old opener Noman Anwar will do it. ۔
A statement issued by the PCB said that Salman Butt, 36, who was not represented in any of his team’s matches in 2019-20, was not selected in the First XI.
The statement said that Salman Butt could represent Lahore Qalandars in only one match in Pakistan Super League and considering his experience, he was offered to lead the second XI team which he rejected.
Before the ban on spot-fixing, Salman Butt had a strike rate of 107.98 and his total strike rate in domestic was 112.98 in which he has scored 2249 runs at an average of 35.05.
Last year, the Lahore Qalandars added Salman Butt to their squad as a replacement for Mohammad Hafeez.
In January 2016, Hafeez returned with a century in the National ODI Cup and was the second highest run scorer in the tournament with 536 runs at an average of 107.20.
Under his leadership, the Water and Power Development Authority won the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and scored two centuries in the final, as well as 741 runs at an average of 49.
He was the second most successful batsman in the 2018 National T20 Cup with 350 runs.
The PCB has appointed Babar Azam as the captain of Central Punjab but he will be available for the team in the second round after fulfilling his responsibilities for Somerset while Hassan Ali, who is suffering from back injury, will not be able to play the entire tournament. ۔
With the start of the National T20, Pakistan’s new domestic season will begin on September 30 and the tournament will be held in Multan and Rawalpindi.