Salman Butt slams Shami over jibe at Pakistan team’s selection process

Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt blasted India’s pacer Mohammed Shami over his jibe at the the selection process of Pakistan team.

Reacting to Shami’s statement in which he said that Pakistan selected players based on relations instead of talent, Butt said that the pacer took a dig at former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq on his tenure as chief selector.

“I don’t understand why people target others. Talent is there in Pakistan but they don’t select a good team. They can make a family team if they want to run the squad based on personal relationships,” Mohammed Shami had said during a podcast.

However, his comments did not sit well with Salman Butt who said that the Indian pacer targeted Inzamam by suggesting that he played a key role in his nephew Imam-ul-Haq’s selection.

“Shami accused Pakistan of selecting team based on personal relations. This is wrong. He was targeting Inzamam. Imam-ul-Haq played for Pakistan because of his performance. There was no influence of Inzamam in his selection. Imam was dropped after he failed to perform. Shami’s comment was below the belt and he shouldn’t have said such things,” Salman Butt said.

During the podcast, Mohammed Shami also slammed Inzamam-ul-Haq for accusing Arshdeep Singh of ball-tampering in the T20 World Cup 2024.

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Addressing the accusations and the clarification by India’s Rohit Sharma, Salman Butt said that the discussion should have ended there.

“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. 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,” he added.