Salman Butt’s appointment as a consultant to the selection panel was met with intense opposition from within the PCB.
Former international Salman Butt was fired from his position as a consultant to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Selector Wahab Riaz on Saturday, ESPNcricinfo reported. The chief selector held a news conference on Saturday to declare that Butt’s name had been removed from the consultation panel with immediate effect, according to ESPNcricinfo. After pleading guilty to a spot-fixing incident during a Test against England at Lords in 2010, the southpaw, who represented Pakistan in both red-ball and white-ball forms, was sidelined.
Butt’s appointment as a consultant to the selection panel was met with stiff opposition from the PCB.
According to news sources, an employee of Pakistan Cricket’s supreme administrative body was unhappy with the employment of the tainted 39-year-old former cricketer as a consultant and threatened to resign.
In the face of rising internal pressure and criticism over the hiring of a former cricketer, Wahab called an emergency press conference on Saturday and confirmed Butt’s departure from the selection panel.
Earlier on Friday, the PCB designated former players Kamran Akmal, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, and Butt as consultants to the chief selector.
Their appointment was effective immediately, with their first duty being the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand.
The T20I series is set to begin on January 12 following the conclusion of the team’s foreign tour of Australia, which begins on December 14.
The advisors have been appointed to assist the team in replicating their success from the previous T20 World Cup.
