Salman Butt launches passionate defence of ex-con cricketers

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has launched passionate defence of tainted cricketers who have served their time, and taken a dig at Mohammad Hafeez for questioning such cricketers' right to represent Pakistan.

Butt, who himself was found guilty in a spot-fixing scandal and has served his time but has not played for Pakistan again, took aim at the discrimination against ex-cons.

"Punishment implies that once you have served the time, you should be treated like any other player. Where does their integrity go when they are in the mix and working with those people? Or when they endorse players because of their connections and take the spot from deserving players?" he is quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan. 

READ: Shahid Afridi throws weight behind Mohammad Hafeez in debate over Sharjeel Khan

Butt urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to make a clear policy in this regard, also saying that other players' opinion in this regard was unnecessary. 

However, he also called out the PCB's selection policy that purportedly discriminated between well-connected ex-cons and others.

"There have been many players who were added because of their connections as the 15th man in the squad. There have been several players making comebacks without any meaningful performances. I don’t take names but it is what it is," he said. 

READ: Spot-fixing akin to murder; fixers should be hanged says Javed Miandad

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