Waqar Younis reveals how Salman Butt tried to brush aside the no-ball scandal

Looking back at the infamous spot-fixing episode which caused a massive uproar in 2010, the then head coach Waqar Younis opened up on his conversation with Pakistan skipper Salman Butt following the deliberate no-balls from pacers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif.

In a freewheeling chat on ESPNcricinfo Talking Cricket, Waqar chastised the entire scandal as extremely 'sickening' and admitted that he felt like quitting from his position in its aftermath.

Waqar lamented, “We all were very upset with the whole episode and everyone was down and out, and we couldn't really play the next day. I still remember, the late Yawar Saeed was the manager and he was very upset, and we couldn't do anything and it was very, very ugly.“

“Even at one stage, I thought 'that's it, do I really want to work, do I really want to carry on with this whole thing?' I went back and I spoke to my family and I couldn't really leave the team at the time. I went back and thought about it and I wanted to back these guys. It's not their fault, it's maybe one or two who have done it. But the rest, they don't deserve all this and if I leave now, it's going to get worse. Then, Misbah (ul-Haq) took over (as captain) and things started to sort of rolling better and we did extremely well after that.”

Playing against England at the iconic Lord’s cricket ground, Butt had conspired with Amir and Asif to intentionally bowl a slew of no-balls in return for money from bookies. The trio was charged with spot-fixing and subsequently handed suspensions as well as prison sentences.

Shedding light into what happened behind the scenes, Waqar recalled, “Look, when the whole thing happened, we were in a very good situation. That was the first morning of the Test match and they were five down when the whole thing happened, and they came out and then I sort of asked him (Amir) 'What the hell was that? There were a couple of no-balls and not the small no-balls, they were like a huge no-balls'.”

The 44-year old added, “That was more surprising for me (because he didn't have a history of bowling no-balls). Salman Butt, of course, jumped in and he said, 'I told him to do it because Jonathan Trott was batting and he said he was coming down the track, and I thought of (asking him to) just bang in a couple short, don't worry about the no-ball’.”

Stating that he believed in Butt’s explanation as a strategical move, Waqar also sympathised with Amir’s situation and stood by the left-arm pacer’s comeback into the international arena.

Of retribution and second chances

Following a legal battle, their bans were reduced to five years provided that they participate in an anti-corruption program organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) which would serve as part of the rehabilitation.

Waqar insisted, “Amir was very, very down and why I feel for him is that because he was only like 17 then or 18 – very young and from a very humble background, very poor background. Someone who has been asked to do certain things for, you know, such a big amount, that's how I take it.”

“He suffered a lot for five years and my religion also says that if someone has done something and has been punished and the entire society has punished him for all these years, he deserves a chance. And the same way, I feel that Salman Butt deserves a chance, Mohammad Asif deserves a chance. They have been through all the punishment they deserve.”