Salman Butt: From Inconsistency to Captaincy
Salman Butt, the new Test captain of Pakistan, led the team for the first time against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in the second Test against Headingley.
Some suggest that captaincy has been thrust into his hands a little too early, but actually it might have happened a little late.
One Test late, in fact. The Pakistan Cricket Board’s decision to hand over the captaincy to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482, a man who had not played a Test in four years, backfired badly. Afridi threw his wicket away in both the innings and later confessed that he did not have the temperament to play this format of the game. He also suggested the name of his replacement, the man who had showed his captain and the rest of the side how to pace a Test match innings.
Butt showed patience, selected the right shots and did not look like a man who was in a hurry to chase leather in a game which saw no other Pakistani batsman get close to a half-century. The right attributes for a proper Test batsman. No wonder, he has had a better Test match record than most other batsmen in his team in the last year or so.
The man, who was looked up on as the replacement of Saeed Anwar, looks to be doing the job required of him.
Butt made his debut against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 in 2003 as a 19-year old. He soon became a mainstay in the Test team even though he was flitting in and out of the ODI side. His first century came in his fourth Test match, against Australia in Sydney in 2005. He followed it up with another hundred against England at home. But then followed a run drought. 2006 was a very bad year in which he scored only one fifty in nine innings. The next year was only slightly better and then came 2008 in which Pakistan did not play a single Test match thanks to their difficult scheduling and security situation.
The year 2009 wasn’t going to be a ground-breaking year and he held onto his place only due to his performances in the ODIs and the fact that Pakistan did not have any other established openers. The ones they had earlier had been maligned and not considered by the board. However, during the tour in Australia he managed to find some form and get back to his best in the Test format and scored a wonderful hundred at Bellerive Oval, Hobart.
His batting displays at Lords have shown how mature he has become as a batsman. This maturity might be the reason why the board has chosen him instead of Shoaib Malik, who is also a part of the squad in England. Butt has never captained the side though but this shouldn’t be a problem as this Pakistan side is not too experienced, at least in Test matches, and has an average age of only 25. He is easily one of the senior most players, having played 28 games so far. Malik's other problems related to his recent bans would have also have been considered against him.
It will be interesting to see how he handles this young and inexperienced side and if this will affect his batting. He is easily http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s most important batsman and Pakistan will rely heavily on him, as they did at Lords. Butt has denied that capitaincy would be a burden and has said that his batting will not be affected by it. He has also spoken about the need to have the same team for some matches so that he can build on the side. However, the re-entry of Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf into the team could create problems in the dressing room and he will have to sort that out.
But his very first day as a captain had been nothing short of terrific, where his side outbowled and outbatted Australia. Pakistani fans will be hoping this will be a sign of things to come.
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