Former Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt believes that Pakistani fans should not burden the young and talented Aamer Jamal with expectations early in his international career. However, Jamal was one of Pakistan’s star performers in the three-match Test series against Australia down under. Playing in his debut Test series, he finished as the highest wicket-taker for the Men in Green, scalping 18 wickets from six innings. Batting at No. 9, he also scored an 82-run knock in the third Test in Sydney as well.
Speaking in his latest YouTube video, Salman Butt said: “Please let him play a few more matches. He has not become Hardik Pandya or Ben Stokes. If a player does something good, we all expect him to do everything, and then when he fails, we say he should be removed. He played a good knock and has the talent, but it takes more than talent to be consistent. Let him perform for at least a year.”
However, Pakistan have announced a 16-member squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand. And, Team director Mohammad Hafeez recently gave the hint that star batter Babar Azam could be rested for a few games to manage his workload as well. Citing India’s example, Butt added that Pakistan should not have named the players whom they want to rest.
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“In some cases, India don’t even pick the players in the squad with whom they want to rest. They make their squad accordingly and don’t call the big players if they aren’t going to play. Pakistan, on the other hand, don’t have that clarity. We want to make everyone happy. Pakistan have sent so many guys that if someone contests an election, he will win just by their votes,” he shared.
However, the series will be the start of pacer Shaheen Afridi’s stint as Pakistan’s new T20I captain. The first T20I will be played at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday, January 12. And, senior wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan has been appointed the vice-captain of Pakistan’s T20I team for the New Zealand series as well. And, Salman Butt suggested that Rizwan should be given the role before as well as he has a good record as captain in domestic cricket and the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
“According to me, Mohammad Rizwan should have been named Pakistan’s captain long ago,” he continued. “He has been appointed the vice-captain now, but I have been saying for very long that he should be the captain. It is a good move. He has done very well as a leader in domestic cricket and for Multan Sultans,” Salman Butt concluded. “Shan Masood did not do a bad job as captain in the Australia Test series,” he added. “He was quite decent. Although there is still scope for improvement for a lot of guys, as a captain, he was good with his bowling changes, tactics, and body language.”
