Salman Butt deserves another go: Waqar Younis

Waqar Younis, the legendary Pakistan pacer and former coach, believes former skipper Salman Butt should be brought back into the national side on the back of a good domestic season. The left-handed opener, who had an ordinary start to the first-class season this year, capped it off with two centuries in the final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy against Habib Bank Limited, helping his side Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) win the tournament courtesy the first innings lead. In fact in the last five matches, he stroked four centuries and scored 516 runs at an average of 72.28.

Butt was the captain of Pakistan and the chief orchestrator on the field when Mohammed Amir bowled the infamous no-ball in the 2010 Lord's Test, which led to the unearthing of the spot-fixing scandal. After being found guilty, Amir, Butt and Mohammad Asif were handed bans from all forms of cricket. However, of the lot, only Amir has made a return to international cricket so far.

"He was playing really well and also he has served his sentence and punishment and I feel personally that everyone deserves a go," Waqar, who was the coach of the Pakistan side in that Test, told BT Sports on Sunday (December 18). "People are going to have different views. He is a good player, he is playing really well."

Butt, who finished as the second-highest run-getter in the National T20 Cup this year, with 350 runs from eight innings, followed it up with 749 runs in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. He even struck a half-century in the opening match of the Departmental One-Day Cup.

The southpaw himself wants to get over the ghosts of his past acts and bring his cricket career back on track. "Honestly speaking I have been through a lot and I realize how badly I damaged the image of Pakistan cricket and myself. But I can only apologize and ask for forgiveness from all those people who were hurt by my actions," he had told PTI.

"But it is over now and I have served my time. I am 32 and my only aim is to get back to international cricket. My job is to perform and the selectors and board have to decide about my future. But I am banking on getting back soon."

However, he did foresee problems in touring the United Kingdom, unless the Pakistan Cricket Board backs him. "I have been to the UAE, Switzerland, Afghanistan, China after my ban expired. And I have consulted immigration laws lawyers and they say I can be allowed to enter the UK if the Pakistan Cricket Board adopts the same channels they did for Amir. As it is nothing is hidden from anyone including the UK authorities," he concluded.