Butt wants to provide new leadership to Pakistan
New Pakistan test cricket captain, Salman Butt, says he wants to lead from the front in his new role in charge of the team.
Former skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482, resigned after the first test defeat at the hands of Australia. Butt becomes the latest in a long line of captains that has seen the person in charge of the team change over 10 times in the past few years.
Butt was one of Pakistan's best players during the first test with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 and he was also one of their most prolific run scorers when Pakistan toured Australia over the winter.
He has a number of personal qualities that should make him popular and productive in his new role. However, he has inherited a very inconsistent team that could well cause more problems that Butt is able to solve.
Personal
Butt is tailored to the job of being a captain. He is one of they very few Pakistan players who does not carry around a huge reputation and does not seem to have a huge ego.
He is very laid back and calm during matches. He never seems to let his temper get the better of him and this is important considering the number of pressure situations that he is now likely to encounter.
He bats at the top of the order and this means that he will be in the action from the very first ball of an innings. This allows him to get stuck in from the start and means he can lead from the front.
He said: "Everybody who gets into this type of challenging position, it helps to be a permanently appointed person. That's the kind of nature we have, but hopefully I can do well and maybe we can stretch it a bit longer."
Inheritance
In order to judge how successful Butt is likely to be as a captain, it's important to consider what he has inherited. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 look like a very inconsistent team at the moment that is not capable of putting together a string of results.
There is also a little bit of bad discipline in the side, which was on display during the first test match. Left arm seamer, Mohammad Aamer, physically jumped into Ricky Ponting after getting the Australian captain out and was quickly talked to by the match referee, Chris Broad. It's clear that Butt has a lot of work to do.
He added: "I like to make my points clear, but at the same time when you are at this level everyone is a professional and knows what to do. Obviously I will guide them, position them. But everyone has their own position in their hands. Every captain has their own way. Let's see how I go about it. It's my first time and even I will comment on myself once I've done something."
Betting Advice
The Australians will probably be the favourites all the way through the second test unless Pakistan drastically improve on the way they played during the first match. Butt will be a good candidate to score a century at some point in the near future. He is scoring runs in conditions, which are only going to improve by the time Pakistan play England later in the summer.
Don't be afraid to back the captain to do well because he has the calm attributes needed to captain and score runs at the highest level of the game. Pakistan will struggle against England but take a closer look at the side and how they perform. If you like what you see then they could be a good punt for the World Cup next year.
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