The former Pakistan captain, Salman Butt hasn’t been satisfied with the Indian pacer Mohammad Shami’s comments on Pakistan’s team selection. According to him, the fast bowler has insulted Inzamam Ul Haq, for being biased towards his nephew, Imam-Ul-Haq as he selected the latter during his period as the chief selector.
Shami was recently present during the podcast show on the YouTube channel of Shubhankar Mishra, where he stated that rather than taking digs at Indian cricket, Pakistan should look to focus on improving its selection procedure.
The 33-year-old made a sarcastic point of how the green brigade is constructing their national side like a family team by picking up players based on their relationships and friendships.
‘I don’t understand why people find it necessary to target others. Improve your selection, and send a good team, they can do it, the talent is there.’ Mohammad Shami expressed this during the podcast. ‘Do one thing, make it a family team if you want to run the team based on personal relations.’
Also Read: Salman Butt Reacts On Inzamam Ul Haq’s Ball Tempering Allegation On India
‘Such things don’t suit Mohammad Shami’- Salman Butt
The left-handed opening batter of the Pakistan team, Imam-Ul-Haq has managed to collect 1568 Test runs in 46 innings, at an average of under 40, with nine fifties and three centuries, while in the 50-over format, the 28-year-old has smashed 3138 runs in 71 innings, at an average of 48.27, with 20 half-centuries and nine hundreds.
Salman Butt wasn’t happy with the words of Shami, as he felt that the Indian seamer tried to target the former Pakistan captain Inzamam Ul Haq, by mentioning the selection of his nephew.
‘Pakistan should not pick teams based on relations and friendships. Mohammed Shami’s comments were targeted towards Inzamam-ul-Haq. He targeted Inzamam by speaking about Pakistan picking their team based on personal relations, and I think this is wrong.’ The 39-year-old observed.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Butt identified Shami’s comment as ‘wrong’, as he looked at the record of Imam, besides reminding one how he came into the national side on the back of great domestic seasons, and later was dropped due to poor form.
‘This is wrong because if you look at Imam’s record, he came into the Pakistan team on the basis of his performance. He was also dropped when he failed.’ Salman Butt was identified on a YouTube video. ‘Shami’s remarks were below the belt and he shouldn’t have said such things.’
During the recent T20 World Cup 2024, it was Inzamam accused Indian players of ball tempering, which in Salman’s view was unnecessary. The Indian captain of the event later coming into the media interaction also reacted to that.
The Lahore-born feels that the topic had already ended with Rohit’s press conference, but there was no need for Mohammad Shami to start the controversy again with this ‘team selection’ comments of the Pakistan team.
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‘Yes, there was a controversy, which should’ve been avoided. A lot of people made statements, Inzamam also said something, Rohit Sharma also clarified, and the topic was over.’ Salman Butt concluded. ‘But to say things about selecting players just because they are relatives is a dirty hit. Such things don’t suit Mohammed Shami. He is a renowned bowler, like how Inzamam was a renowned captain.’
Having said that, it should be mentioned that at no point in the discussion in the podcast, Shami took the name of Inzamam-Ul-Haq. These words could get more spiced up, when India and Pakistan will face each other during the upcoming edition of the Champions Trophy, towards the start of next year.