AUS vs PAK | Salman Butt slams Azhar Ali & Co. for poor team selection in Brisbane
Former Pakistan skipper and banned cricketer Salman Butt has criticized current Test skipper Azhar Ali and the team management for making poor team selection decisions for the first test in Brisbane. Pakistan were comfortably beaten by a rampant Australian side by an innings and five runs.
Former Pakistan captain Salman But who was banned for spot-fixing in 2009, has accused Azhar Ali and the Pakistan team management for poor team selection against Australia in the first Test at Brisbane where the visitors lost by an innings and five runs. Butt believes that not playing the best eleven was one of the main reasons for the defeat on a bouncy wicket. Pakistan batted first but failed to post a big first-innings score, getting bundled out for 240.
Australia grabbed the advantage with both hands as all of the top three fired with Joe Burns getting a well-made 97 and David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne scoring Daddy hundreds to take Australia's lead past 300. Although Pakistan showed great fight in their second innings batting, thanks to a brilliant hundred by Babar Azam and a valiant 97 by keeper Muhammad Rizwan, Pakistan could not avoid an innings defeat.
Many question marks were raised over the exclusion of Mohammad Abbas who is an experienced bowler and at the moment is on top of his game. Youngsters like Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah showed promise but the inexperience cam back to haunt Pakistan.
Ahead of his side Central Punjab’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match, Butt asserted, "This is an important series of ICC Test championship, you should have picked your best-experienced players for the tour. This is not the time to test those who will play for Pakistan regularly after a few years, this was time to go with your best players as the series was part of ICC Test Championship."
If Pakistan have to salvage anything from the series, they will have to perform well in the second Test at Adelaide which will be a pink-ball Test and will be played on November 29.
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