Salman Butt - Pakistan's next great batsman?

[Zainub]

It's hard not to get carried away, isn't it? Ask me! I thought we had found our selves an answer to the Aamir Sohail - Saeed Anwer partnership at the top of the order when Umar and Farhat put on a few consecutive century stands...then it all started folding away...in any case, coming back to your original query, having been a close follower of Salman Butt's career, I mean from before his Pakistan days, I'm really pleased with the way he's coming through in his first overseas tour.

Certainly there are few better things you can do to prove you ability then score 70, then 103 in consecutive games against the best team in the world in their grounds...and that after having scored a match winning unbeaten century a few months back in unique conditions in Calcutta...speaks a lot about what this kid has to offer...don't know if it is greatness, to early to suggest that I would think, but other than that, as you say, he has shown he's got a bit of everything.

Temperament. Apparently, yes, he's got a good one. Seems to me he is not as easily intimidated by opposition as Imran Farhat and Yasir Hameed, the two other openers in our squad, certainly can handle pressure well. He also generates quite a bit of bat speed, that's why uptill now whenever he's flashed (quite a few times as well), he's flashed hard and got away with a few runs. He's a good (if not great) back foot player, which I reckon both Imran Farhat and Yasir Hameed are not, they always seem to me to be more comfortable the other way round.

Can improve a wee bit with his execution of the pull shot - he's got away with a few in this tour that he didn't get from the middle of the bat because Australian attack despite being very effective and accurate is not by definition "pacy". If he tries to pull everything left right and centre of length (meaning anything short has to have it, which is what I think he does)..he might find him self under a bit of pressure against some one like Harmison and Freddie who will time and time again bowl in the 90s. At that pace those guys would not be easy to hook! So a scope for improvement here, definitely.

I have spotted another weakness also. He's got a tendency to close the face of the bat a bit early at times, forcing leaning edges. Got out somewhat like that in the 2nd innings in Melbourne, although that time it came of the full face of the bat. But he, at least at a couple of other occasions, I reckon in limited over internationals against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, got out playing similar strokes. Needs to work on that.

And one final comment, which is seemingly a universal weakness in almost half, if not all the batsmen from the sub-continent...running between the wickets. That dismissal at the MCG in the first innings, the lesser said about it the better. And considering he might be opening with Yasir Hameed in the mean while, and hopefully Taufeeq Umar in the future, Salman has a bit of work to do in that respect. Neither of them are quickest you are ever likely to come across, although not the worst either to be fair to Umar, but Hameed is simply not test standard, shows virtually no faith in his partner's call and is ball watching half the time when he should be running. Judgment of singles and twos too is not test standard either, when they should be picking out the best/better fielders in the other side and be more cautious against them while chancing their arms against the slower men, they always seem to do the opposite, perhaps trying to be too smart. Not clever at all I reckon. Over all running between the wickets is one area Salman, and who ever opens the innings with him in the future, preferably Umar, must improve in.

[Paoli]

Taufeeq is good enough...can take the spot back if he works hard..

Bdw...what happened to the following:

• Saleem Elahi
• Mohammed Hafeez
• Mohammad Wasim

Although the latter was much older than the first two, an explanation would be good.

[Zainub]

All three still well and truely alive Lol! Aparently though, not making waves in the domestic competetions. Are no way near even close to being in contention right now for selection.

Saleem Elahi I get the impression is most probably finished I take the view that the selectors have discarded him because a) he's got too old now and b) they thought of him as a flat track bully - he was Pakistan's very own Greame Hick

Mohammad Hafeez though, we might see him again some time, most probably in the ODI team, but only if he can improve his form, which has been quite dismal this season (210 runs in 8 matches at 19.09 for Faislabad) which is a little bit of a worry considering he is in our WAT Pakistan A team as well, as a matter of fact he's our skipper there.

Mohammad Wasim, I can't recall now. I'll check and let you know.

[Maranello]

Good questions Paoli69.

You can read about Muhammad Waseem on this thread - some interesting posts in there.

Muhammad Hafeez, well he is playing domestic cricket in Pakistan and is young enough to make a comeback into the one-day side at least, provided he improves his domestic performances. Till recently, Pakistan's one-day team and even squad has been unusally settled, with only one opening spot being up for grabs; all other players have been performing very well of late. With Shoaib Malik's injury and his bowling problems, a door has opened for the likes of Hafeez, let's see what happens.

Saleem Elahi is not really an international player; he is not even a consistent performer domestically and had sever techincal flaws which ruled him out of all Tests and one-days outside the sub-continent. In addition his temperament was suspect, hopefully we have seen the last of him.

One middle-order batsman you definitely should keep an eye out for is Hasan Raza. The youngest Test player in the history of the sport; he impressed the likes of Steve Waugh with his stoic and solid displays against Australia a few years ago when everyone else was falling like nine pins. Definitely has more potential than many of the guys in the current squad. He made his debut over eight years ago, and is still only 22! Shaka started a thread about him, and you can read more about Hasan Raza on this thread.

And we haven't even begun to talk about all the bowlers who have been discarded (though some are injured, eg Umar Gul and Shabbir Ahmed): Azhar Mehmood, Muhammad Zahid, Muhammad Akram, Arshad Khan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, et al.

[Zainub]

Somehow I'd completely forgotten about Mohammad Wasim, thanks for the link to that earlier post M, I can recall quite vividly now the last time I saw him play. Intresting reading in that thread that NZ were keen on playing him in their national side. Has been a while since we saw one of those players who've played for 2 countries...

[Paoli]

Yeah i heard about Hasan Raza...when i first heard about him making his debut in 96 i thought he'd be well into his thirties but i think he has a nice future ahead of him...if age and past experience is anything to go by

[Paoli]

Sorry to bother Zainub and Maranello again, but four others crossed my mind (not sure if they played tests though)

• Naved Latif
• Faisal Iqbal
• Saqlain Mushtaq
• Mushtaq Ahmed

Thanks again for your help

[Maranello]

Naved Latif - playing domestic cricket in Pak, did well till last season, ZR can update us on the current season. Is definitely in the mix, and could get called up to the pre-selection "camp" given the problems in our batting department. Has played 11 ODIs and 1 Test. Cricinfo profile

Faisal Iqbal - Javed Miandad's nephew, played a lot of Tests and ODIs, some say many more than were warranted by his talent. Heavy scorer in first class cricket, did not quite make it at the Test level. Probably will not be recalled in the near future, given all the chances he has had. Cricinfo profile.

Saqlain Mushtaq - injured, according to Woolmer on his website, will be considered once he is fit again and performs in domestic cricket (either Pakistan or if too late, then the next County season)

Mushtaq Ahmed - probably has played his last for Pakistan. Has been out of favour for a few years, after his magnificient season with Sussex, in which he was instrumental in their winning the County Championship, he was recalled for the SA tour to Pakistan in late 2003. Played the two Tests in that tour, after a long 3 year lay-off from Tests, he obviously did not shine immediately, in fact was comprehensively outperformed by Danish Kaneria and Shoaib Malik in those two Tests. Mushy was discarded immediately afterwards, probably for good - has not been in the mix since.

[Zainub]

Naved Latif has been in reasonably good nick this season, 464 runs in 8 appearances for Faislabad, 1 hundred, 3 fifties. That’s not a bad return. But he's 28, actually turning 29 on 21 Feb so not exactly sure if he'll be quite the batsmen our selectors will be too inclined to recall in case they lose faith in Farhat/Hameed/Asim Kamal, whoever becomes the victim of the customary throw the kitchen sink at it philosophy by the end of this Australian tour. Someone like Hasan Raza who has scored 750 odd runs at an average of 50 odd for Karachi Blues (aged 22) is more likely to get a recall in my opinion - not sure though where we'd accommodate him in our batting order. Personally I never have had too much of an opinion of Naved Latif, I'm no expert at cricket but from whatever I saw of him in 2001/02 Sharjah tournament I wasn't too impressed. Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe I remember that year where the other teams and in about 4 or 5 matches the highest he could get was 40 odd, and I remember that so well because at that time we were using Afridi is pinch hitting opener, and even he was getting runs but that lad Naved, he kept on getting out to one poor shot after another. I mean common, no one beats Afridi in playing rash stokes, and if he does, you can assess how good/bad a player he was. Seemed to me he had a terribly suspect technique against the short ball and I don't think he would have quite managed it at the highest level.

Faisal Iqbal, he must be frustrated man I think. He'll tell you how much he would have benefited had he not been nephew of Pakistan's most successful batsmen - that sort of became, still is any many ways, a kind of sticky tag for him. Some people always seem skeptical of his talents and ability - there are claims of nepotism and what not - only God knows how much of that is true. But he's still performing pretty decently (668 runs at 44.53 in 10 matches for Karachi Whites) and is still only 23 so I guess he would realistically have a chance. I thought personally that he was decent enough player, I've always said that if people are scoring 600-700 runs season after season in domestic cricket, they've got to have some sort of ability, they can't be rubbish, most certainly not when they can play Shane Warne as well as he did in that dramatic first test in Colombo when he got a quick fire 80 odd. He'll be back some day, I don't know when, but realistically he stands a chance as opposed to Naved Latif who in my humble opinion doesn't.

Now to the two could-have-been-greats, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed. Saqlain, as M says is injured right now. He actually is in rehab, after having underwent surgery for quite a serious knee injury that I'm wary might restrict his bowling somewhat - I was one of his big fans when he was a regular in the team, so when he got the sack after the post world cup clean out drive without having done too much wrong I wasn't very happy at all. After all he'd taken 200 odd test wickets, and was one of our most successful bowlers in ODIs as well, just behind Wasim and Wagar in the wickets tally there too if I’m not wrong. But then, he was recalled for the home series against Bangladesh, and boy did he bowl poorly in that or what...totally let down him self and all of his fans down. The very fact that he missed the later half o the series to go an oblige his country Surrey, and hence preferred playing from them rather than Pakistan, was particularly disturbing to me personally, I was after all one of his bigger fans. And I’d never imagined him to do something like that. Later on he played another test against India, where he could have had better returns in the famous Multan test where Sehwag got a triple century had he had some luck with dropped catches but generally he was far, far from his best. I think his bad form/injuries and the rise of Shoaib Malik means that he will find it extremely difficult to force his way back into the team. For my money, at 28 the next two years might be his last chance of any international cricket - once he gets into his 30s - he'd be as good as finished in the selector's minds.

Now to Mushie, with all due respect he was very fine leg spinner, and one hell of a character, and architect of some of the most memorable away victories we have achieved in the last decade, Sydney in 1995 and The Oval in 1996. By 1997, he was at the very peak of his career; the same year he was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year. But then, as Saqlain emerged and he lost some form and was dropped in 2001 after having taking 1-83 in 31 overs in a test match against NZ in which Saqlain had taken 8-72 in a little under 50 overs. He spent the next 3 years in exile, mesmeirsing batsman after batsmen all over Pakistan and England, toping the domestic charts in both countries, but our selectors conveniently ignored him as Saqlain Mushtaq continued to live to the promise he’d shown. It was almost a cold war in one sense. He kept taking wickets and they kept ignoring. Nothing changed until the time when Sussex when the Championship for the first time and he became the first bowler in about 7 years to take 100 wickets in a season.

There was anticipation from some sectors for him to be recalled, particularly, no one in England could believe he wasn't in contention with that sort of form for so long. So in one sense it was a long-awaited recall. And may be Mushie was under a bit of pressure because of that. Whatever was responsible, the fact was that he bowled poorly against a South African out fit that was struggling against Kaneria and Shoaib - we managed to win that series 1-0. But the apparent ease with which Gary Kirsten and co played him gave more fuel to his some of his critics (including Ramiz Raja) down in Pakistan who had forever been ranting that success at county level should not be deemed a criteria for selection. Suggestions now are widely that he is past his prime. At age 33 that was Mushie's last chance and he squandered it badly as Kaneria rose to the occasion, and he now reigns supreme as Pakistan's first choice spinner, and deservingly so too. All this in perspective I think he should have by now, already announced his retirement from international cricket, but the determined fella that he is, he's still rallying on. I can't see it happening for him though. I do have same measure of sympathy for him. A leg spin bowler of his caliber should have played a lot more than 52 tests and taken a lot more wickets than just 185. Like with so many other players, we did not make proper use of his potential too.