How can you stop Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif from playing for Pakistan?
The bans
are over and Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, and Mohammad Aamer are back; the
latter in international colors and the former two for their domestic team. Considering
that they did not play any competitive cricket for 5 years and have now come
out of the wilderness to get their first taste of cricket, it has been quite a
remarkable comeback!
Let us take
Aamer out of this equation given the support he was provided throughout his ban
by the PCB, ICC, and current and former cricketers. Butt and Asif were
condemned by all. They did not get the kind of sympathy Aamer did; not from the
administrators, nor from the fans. The PCB did not provide them the same kind
of support, nor did the board do them any favors by delaying the rehabilitation
process till it was completely necessary.
So in a
situation like this when one knows that the entire world is aware of the wrong they
have done, how does one motivate themselves? Think about it. Butt and Asif went
through jail terms. They served a ban for cheating their team, their sport, their
country. They were not provided support by officials in the same manner that another
player was. Everyone wrote and spoke about how it was the end of their careers.
They were not allowed inside the academies nor did they have access to practice
facilities. Butt was condemned by everyone for being the architect of the fix,
while Asif had struck the final nail in his coffin full of offenses.
Everyone
including me thought that their careers were over! We all knew that Aamer will
be back, but none of us ever thought that Butt and Asif would be able to make a
comeback. Age was not on their side. A 5-year layoff from any sort of
profession is as good as an end of a career, let alone sport where mental
strength and fitness play such a major role.
Ignoring
what they did and only thinking purely about the mental strength and fitness
required to compete at the highest level after a gap of 5 years, their comeback
has been nothing short of remarkable. Butt’s 135 and 99* in his first two
innings and Asif’s 2-22 and 0-29 are phenomenal achievements given how they
spent their past five years.
There was
always this remote possibility that they would perform at the domestic level,
but now that they have (particularly Butt), what will the PCB do? They have
allowed Aamer to come back and don the green; will they be as welcoming to Butt
and Asif if both continue to perform in domestic games? It will be highly
unfair if both are ignored despite building their cases considering that a
fellow player who was accused and convicted for the same crime has been
welcomed back.
In fact,
the PCB has had to intervene and coerce a couple of players to accept Aamer’s
presence in national colors. What will they do in Butt’s and Asif’s case?
I
understand that everyone from the administrators to the players and fans
believe that Butt and Asif are more guilty than Aamer was. Their respective
jail terms also imply that. However, like Aamer, the other two also went
through their terms and fulfilled all obligations that were required of them
for the ban to be completed. Now that they have been allowed to compete
domestically, how can anyone stop them from competing internationally?
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Muhamamd Asif and Salman has already started playing domestic Cricket with Salman butt hitting 100 and 99 in two matches and Asif picking up two wickets in first match. But the thing is Amir is being given more chances and he is also in Karachi Kings team in PSL http://hblpakistansuperleague.com/karachi-kings/ but other two are not selected for PSL. They yet to go a long way to make intro into national side again