Former Pakistan batter Salman Butt has claimed that India did not have pacers who could intimidate Pakistan batters prior to the 2000s. He said that batters like Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail used to take on the Indian bowling lineup without helmets. Butt’s claim came up when he was talking about Shahid Afridi not having been used as an opening batter in the Asian Conditions.
While speaking on the show called Cric Bridge, Butt said, “Pehle India ki jo bowling thi usme Saeed Anwar aur Aamir Sohail jab opening jaate the wo helmet nahi pehente the… Topiyan pehen ke unko maar rahe hote the, kyuki uss samay pace nahi thi (The bowling unit that India possessed during the time of Saeed Anwar and Amir Sohail didn’t have pace. This is why the two batters did not even bother to wear helmets and used to hit the Indian bowlers by wearing only caps.”
We don’t have a middle order now- Salman Butt
The former Pakistan skipper has also lashed out at the current Pakistan board and its officials for the team’s middle-order woes.
“Here, the people are stubborn in making decisions. They didn’t care about the impact it would have on the quality of cricket. We don’t have a middle-order, now they are accepting it. But what can we do now?” asked Butt while speaking on his YouTube Channel.
“You were saying that quality system will come. Now you better not lash out at the media, now do not ask them to back you. Yeh naa kahein ki aap log negativity phailaate hain. Ham log negativity phailaate hain, aapne toh player hi khatm kar diye hain. Iss tarah ke kaam kiye hain ki players hi squeeze ho gaye hain,” he added.
“Even if you want to take a drastic step, which way will you head towards? You have Shoaib Malik who is a part of the previous system. What have you produced? You are just stubborn and only talk about fancy things,” the ex-Pakistan skipper said in a stark verbal attack on the Pakistan board.
