NEW DELHI: Former international cricketer Salman Butt‘s appointment as a consultant to chief selector Wahab Riaz by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was abruptly revoked a day after the announcement, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
Chief selector Riaz called an urgent press conference on Saturday to officially declare the immediate withdrawal of Butt’s name from the consultancy panel.
Butt, who had represented Pakistan in both red-ball and white-ball formats, had recently been appointed to provide consulting insights to the selection panel.
However, Butt’s past involvement in a spot-fixing incident during a Test against England at Lord’s in 2010 had stirred controversy around his appointment.
Reportedly, there was internal resistance within the PCB regarding Butt’s consultancy role, with an unnamed employee expressing discomfort and even threatening resignation.
Facing mounting internal pressure and criticism, Riaz decided to clarify the situation through a press conference, confirming Butt’s prompt removal from the selection panel.
On Friday, the PCB had initially named former players Kamran Akmal, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, and Salman Butt as consultants to the chief selector. The appointments were to take effect immediately, with their first assignment being the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand, scheduled to begin on January 12 after the ongoing overseas tour of Australia.
The consultants were brought on board with the aim of leveraging their experience to help the team replicate the success achieved in the last T20 World Cup. However, Salman Butt’s sudden removal from the role has added an unexpected twist to the PCB’s selection strategy.
(With inputs from ANI)