Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt's 3 most controversial statements

Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt is no stranger to controversy. He was banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after the match-fixing scandal in 2010. These days, Butt expresses his views about the game on his YouTube channel and through other social media platforms.

Over the course of the time he has spent as a pundit, the 37-year-old has had his fair share of controversies. Mostly, making bizarre statements or getting involved in the odd scuffles.

In this article, we take a look at three of the most controversial statements made by Butt.

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#1 Salman Butt slams PCB chairman Ramiz Raja

Pakistan recently hosted Australia for a Test series, generating plenty of excitement for the tour, but the flat deck pitches resulted in a rather dull affair. The first Test in Rawalpandi produced only 14 wickets across the five days, leaving most people disgruntled.

Butt took a dig at PCB chairman Ramiz Raja, blaming him for the kind of pitches that were laid out to neutralize Australia's strengths and not playing to Pakistan's strengths.

The former batter said:

“We don’t have to play to their strengths, we definitely don’t want to do that. The whole Pakistan would agree to it. But what is our strength? Please tell us that. If we go by his words, we don’t have any strength at all. We don’t have fast bowlers, spinners, batsmen don’t have confidence.

More importantly, he is not a chartered accountant-chairman. He was a cricketer. If you ask me the characterstic of every stadium in Pakistan, I can readily tell you. And I’m sure he will tell you as well, it is not possible that he doesn’t know. If he doesn’t know, I don’t know who knows."

Fair to say, the comments might not have gone down well with Raja, who didn't respond.

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#2 Calling Indian players overweight

In his most recent controversial statement after India's loss against Australia in the first T20I in Mohali, the former Pakistan cricketer opined that some of the Indian players are overweight.

He stated that Indian players do not have the same fitness standards as compared to the likes of Australia, South Africa, and England. Butt said:

"Indian players are the highest-paid cricketers in the world. They play the maximum number of matches. You tell me why are they not the fittest? If we compare their body structure, teams like South Africa, Australia and England are much better."

He added:

"I would even say some Asian teams are ahead of India. Some Indian players are overweight. I think they need to work on that because they are brilliant cricketers."

Butt stated that while the likes of Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya are usually the ones who set the highest standards in the field, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant can still raise their fitness standards.

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#3 Labelling Misbah-ul-Haq as a below-par coach

In a ruthless dig at former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Butt lashed out at the then Pakistan coach. The 37-year-old stated that Misbah is a "below-par coach and doesn't know what he's talking about after the side's loss to England last year. He said:

"Misbah said the performance is undefendable, but he tried his best to defend it. If you say it is undefendable, then just say, 'We weren't the better team. We have failed in our execution and strategy'.

"He is just repeating the justifications of why he is backing certain players. This shows that you are also not at par with your position, and you have no idea what you are talking about."

While some of the criticism from Butt might be valid, it wasn't a fair reflection of Misbah's time as head coach. Under Misbah's guidance, Pakistan won their last three ODI series and lost just two matches, both closely-fought games.