Pakistan suffers from mafia that carries out constant strikes, ex-captain rages

Salman Butt: “The strike-rate mafia and intent mafia are basically illiterates of cricket. They have no idea about the format they are talking about”

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Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt said the national team is suffering from the “mafia of clout and intent”.

He noted that these people who push players to play a more aggressive form of cricket in Tests are “basically cricket illiterates” and don’t know what they are talking about.

Salman’s comments come after Pakistan suffered an embarrassing 2-0 defeat to Bangladesh in a two-Test series in Rawalpindi.

Despite the home advantage, the men in green suffered batting collapses in the second innings of both Tests. Salman found this incredibly frustrating, as he noted that the batsmen in the team need to understand that it is their job to stay on the crease for long periods of time and wear down the opposition.

“The strike-rate mafia and intent mafia are basically illiterates of cricket. They have no idea about the format they are talking about,” the 39-year-old said on his YouTube channel, as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.

“You lose in four days and come back, what are you going to do by playing fast? You’ve only played 46 overs. What a hurry you’re in? Why don’t you understand that your job is to bat long?

“Do the greats of the game play like highlights? Do the likes of Joe Root, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma score runs like this?”

Many players now participate in the Champions One-Day Cup, a domestic tournament over 50 overs played in Faisalabad.

Pakistan will next take on England in a three-match Test series scheduled from October 7 to 28.

Pakistan squad for Bangladesh Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi

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