Former Pakistan captain, Salman Butt, has pulled out of the upcoming National T20 Cup after being excluded from Central Punjab’s first XI.
Sources privy to the development said that Central Punjab’s Head Coach, Shahid Anwar, wanted Butt to captain the second XI. However, he declined the offer and decided not to be a part of the next edition of the domestic T20 event.
Butt has told the team management that instead of him a youngster should be given a chance to lead the second XI side, which consists mainly of youngsters.
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With 2,349 runs at an average of 35 and a strike rate of a little over 110 in 82 appearances, Butt has a decent record in T20s for a batsman recognized as a Test specialist. He has been a handy opener for his regional and departmental sides in recent times.
The forthcoming edition of the National T20 Cup will be the first domestic tournament since the coronavirus pandemic halted cricketing activities in the country in March. The star-studded event will kick-off from September 30 and will last till October 18. All 33 matches will be played in Multan and Rawalpindi.
Central Punjab Squad (First and Second XI)
| Azhar Ali | Abid Ali | Babar Azam | Naseem Shah |
| Abdullah Shafiq | Bilal Asif, | Hasan Ali | Kamran Akmal |
| Ahmed Bashir | Ehsan Adil | Irfan Khan Niazi | Saad Nasim |
| Ahmed Safi Abdullah | Faheem Ashraf | Shahid Nawaz | Usman Salahuddin, |
| Ahmed Shahzad | Bilawal Iqbal | Nisar Ahmed | Fahad Munir |
| Aitzaz Habib Khan | Rizwan Hussain | Qasim Akram | Hammad Butt |
| Ali Zaryab | Usman Qadir | Suleman Shafqat | Sohaib Ullah |
| Anas Mehmood | Muhammad Akhlaq | Zohaib Amanat | Zubair Khan |
| Fahad Usma | Mohammad Saad | Ali Shan | Raza Ali Dar |
| Farhan Khan | Zafar Gohar | Asfand Mehran | Noman Anwar |
| Mohammad Ali | Waqas Maqsood | Atiq-ur-Rehman | Mohammad Imran Dogar |
| Salman Butt | Junaid Ali | Haseeb-urRehman | Mohammad Faiq |
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