Pakistan coach Waqar Younis praised his team for a "wonderful job"

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis praised his team for a "wonderful job" after they shrugged off the cold to complete a 2-0 one-day international series away to Ireland at Stormont.

A much-improved batting performance by the home team give Pakistan a victory target of 239 which the World Cup semi-finalists passed for the loss of five wickets with eight balls to spare on Monday.

"This game could have been dodgy for us but everybody chipped in," said former Pakistan captain Waqar.

"Coming straight from the West Indies to such cold weather, it is never easy to change suddenly, with so little time, but the boys did a wonderful job and stuck to their task to the end of this last game," Waqar added.

"We are all looking forward to the rest which will do wonders for us, because we have had eight months on the road, then we will be ready to pick it up again against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and England."

However, Waqar himself may have to deal with the fall-out from the international retirement of Shahid Afridi first.

Afridi, who led Pakistan to this year's World Cup semi-finals, was replaced as one-day captain by Misbah-ul-Haq after publicly criticising Waqar during the 3-2 series win in the Caribbean.

He then withdrew from the two Ireland matches on account of his father's illness.

His retirement was confirmed well after close of play at Stormont, where another fast-scoring batsman had caused Waqar a more immediate problem.

Ireland opener Paul Stirling, a 20-year-old, who plays for English county Middlesex, hit 109, from 107 balls, with seven fours and four sixes, in an innings which even Waqar admitted to enjoying.

"All the spectators would have enjoyed that knock, one of the best I've seen for a while.

"He doesn't slog, he plays proper cricket shots and even I enjoyed every bit of it. He hits the ball far, he has good footwork, plenty of time and he's not scared of the short ball. He looks a promising player."

Pakistan, though, have a young batting talent themselves.

Umar Akmal, only three months older than Stirling, saw Pakistan home on Monday with 60 not out from just 48 balls.

"Umar is a very attacking batsmen, you can't stop him," Waqar said.

"If he sees it he hits it. I'm really pleased with the way he played and he got us home along with Younis Khan (64).

Younis's cool head was just what Pakistan needed after losing three wickets for 80 against Ireland, cricket's leading non-Test nation, who having beaten England at the World Cup in March were stunned to be told the 2011 edition would be restricted to Test countries -- a decision that could yet be reversed.

As well as Umar, Pakistan have another promising youngster in fast bowler Junaid Khan, who followed up his success in the Caribbean with another good performance in helpful conditions in Belfast.

"Junaid couldn't get a game at the World Cup but he got his opportunity in the West Indies, bowled superbly in the ODIs there and in seaming conditions he got his chance here. He has a good head on young shoulders," said Waqar.

It was Junaid who ended the Stirling onslaught and he also claimed a second wicket in the final over when he had Gary Wilson caught for a quick-fire 33 which got Ireland up to 238 for eight.

(AFP)

Pakistan completed a 2-0 one-day international series win over Ireland

Belfast : Pakistan completed a 2-0 one-day international series win over Ireland in Belfast with victory by five wickets at Stormont on Monday that rounded off eight months on the road.

Pakistan, set a target of 239, won with eight balls to spare thanks mainly to half-centuries from Younis Khan (64) and Umar Akmal (60 not out).

The World Cup semifinalists have been unable to play any major matches at home since an armed attack on Sri Lanka's tour bus in Lahore in March 2009 made the country a 'no-go zone' for the world's leading teams.

But there were few signs of travel-weariness against Ireland.

Only Mohammad Hafeez, dismissed in the second over without scoring, failed but Taufiq Umar and Azhar Ali, in his first one-day international, shared 65 for the second wicket to put Pakistan back on course.

Younis Khan played the decisive innings with 64 from 74 balls, including four fours and a six.

He shared stands of 68 for the fourth wicket with captain Misbah-ul-Haq and 69 for the fifth with Akmal, who faced just 48 balls and hit six fours and a six.

The Ireland bowlers stuck to their task well with Boyd Rankin the most economical, conceding just 29 runs in his nine overs and also ending the innings of Azhar Ali, caught at slip by Paul Stirling.

It was Stirling who was named man-of-the-match after setting up the contest with a wonderfully entertaining 109, his first century against a Full Member nation, to follow ODI hundreds against Canada and, at the recent World Cup, the Netherlands.

At the interval, Pakistan would have been delighted to be chasing only 239.

Ireland, skittled out for 96 during Pakistan's seven-wicket win in Saturday's series opener, were on course for a substantial total while the 20-year-old Stirling was at the crease.

The batsman, who plays for English county Middlesex, made 109 off just 107 balls with four sixes and seven fours.

But when he was fourth out for 182 at the start of the 44th over, Ireland failed to kick-on.

The hosts lost momentum during the one rain interruption in the innings, after 37 overs, with Ireland on 159 for two.

Ireland took their batting powerplay two overs after the resumption but Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan bowled five excellent overs which brought two wickets and yielded only 23 runs.

Junaid, Saturday's man-of-the-match with four wickets, finished with two for 53 but the majority of those runs came in his first spell when Stirling was on the rampage.

The 21-year-old left-arm paceman got his revenge in the powerplay when he bowled Stirling and he followed up with wicket of Gary Wilson, in the last over, for 33.

Off-spinner Ajmal was Pakistan's most successful bowler with four for 35.

His haul included Kevin O'Brien, scorer of the fastest-ever World Cup century during Ireland's shock win over England in Bangalore in March.
(AFP)

Angry Shahid Khan Afridi quits international cricket , slams PCB

Shahid Afridi quits International Cricket,will not play under current board

Karachi : Flamboyant Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has announced to quit international cricket in protest of his removal from the captaincy of the national one-day team and said he will not consider to return till the present board under the chairmanship of Ijaz Butt is in place.

"The people have given me lot of respect and love and I don't want to waste that working with this board who don't know how to respect players," an angry Afridi said.

In a scathing attack on the Pakistan cricket Board, Afridi, 31, described the current set of administrators as "disgraceful people".

Afridi, who announced to quit international cricket to protest the board's decision of removing him as the captain of the one-day team, told Geo News channel that nothing is greater to him than his self-respect.

The experienced all rounder said till the present board under the chairmanship of Butt is in place, he will not play international cricket.

"I want to make it clear that till this board is there I will not play international cricket. When it goes and if people want me to play on I will consider a comeback."

However, Afridi said he will continue to play in domestic and league matches.

"I will continue to play domestic and league cricket but not international cricket... It is not worth my while under this board which gave me no reason nor did it bother to hear me out before sacking me as captain," he said.

"I don't want to work with such disgraceful people. I don't know on what grounds they sacked me as captain. I worked hard on building up a broken team and turned it into a fighting combination. We played in the World Cup semi-final and yet they sacked me without hearing me out."

The retirement follows on the heels of Afridi's sacking as ODI captain despite Pakistan's 3-2 success against West Indies. Though the board did not any give official reason for the removal, it was believed to be the result of growing differences Afridi had with coach Waqar Younis, in particular over matters of selection.

Afridi also claimed there was a group of people belonging to the Punjab province in Lahore who had always been against him. "This group has always kept on working against me.

They are the ones who keep on filling the Chairman's ears against me. Maybe they don't want me to play because I get in the way of their plans."

The all rounder also alleged that as the captain he was never consulted in selection of teams, nor was he sure about his captaincy before a series till the last moment.

"This board never gave me a feeling of assurance that I would be captain. I would not know before a series until the last few days whether I was going to be captain and I can't continue to play under these circumstances."

Afridi also made it clear that he had spoken to some of his elders and seniors before taking his retirement decision and they supported him.

It was after returning from the West Indies that Afridi ruffled the board feathers when he told the media he did not like people interfering in his work - an obvious reference to row with head coach Waqar Younis over selection issues.

After issuing him a notice for speaking to the media on team issues in contravention of the players code of conduct, the board while announcing the squad for the one-day series against Ireland replaced Afridi as captain with test captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who on Monday led Pakistan to a 2-0 win over Ireland.

Afridi, after he was sacked for captaincy, pulled out of the series against Ireland telling the board he wanted to stay with his father who was under treatment in the United States, but he reached England from the US and on Monday made his retirement announcement from London.

He also defended his statement, saying he had only spoken the truth and nothing else.

"I didn't speak against anyone nor did I criticise anyone by name. What I said was for betterment of team. But if they don't want me to speak the truth than I can't accept working with such people," he said.

"I didn't want any problem what I said was keeping in the benefits of the team. I can't continue to play under a board that does not respect senior players," he added.

Afridi last year had already retired from Test cricket after losing the first test to Australia at Lords.

Afridi in the 325 ODIs, he played, has scored 6695 at an average of 23.49, but at a staggering strike rate of 113.82.

He also bagged 315 wickets at an average of 34.22. He holds the record of the fastest ODI century in 37 balls.

(PTI)

IPL 4: The IPL 3 and the Champions League winners CSK starts favourite

With Chennai Super Kings just a home win away from back-to-back IPL titles, the team will be looking to live up to the expectations of its serial winner captain M.S. Dhoni(ODI and T20 World Cups and top spot in Test rankings with the National team, and the IPL and the Champions League with CSK).

Along the way, the champion has remained undefeated at home in seven league matches, to extend a stupendous home record: CSK has lost just once in 12 matches at Chepauk over two editions.

The core of its side comprises locals (Murali Vijay, S. Badrinath and R. Ashwin) who have kept the home fans content with consistent performances. Surprise retainee Albie Morkel has performed admirably as a new ball bowler and lower-order finisher.

Michael Hussey and Doug Bollinger (four Man-of-the-Match awards between them) continued from where they left off from IPL-III.

On those rare occasions that the go-to guys have failed, the squad players (Anirudha Srikkanth against KKR and Wriddhiman Saha against KTK) have pitched in.

Add to all this Dhoni's unflappable captaincy (which Dwayne Bravo paid the ultimate compliment to: “He no panic, we no panic”) and the incalculable element of luck (had it not been for James Franklin's last over heroics against KKR, CSK would have finished outside the top two), and Super Kings' case appears persuasive. Come the final, CSK will be favourite to add to its skipper's trophy cabinet.

The contest though might hinge on a few mini duels. Royal Challengers Bangalore, which has never registered a win against Super Kings in Chennai (across four editions), will have to look no further than the red hot Chris Gayle to breach the champion's stronghold.

Gayle has savaged his way to 608 runs in this edition at a strike rate of 184.80, and has been difficult to get away with the ball (six wickets at an economy rate of 6.56).

The West Indian's presence at the top of the order might prompt Dhoni to open with his main strike option Ashwin (17 wickets), who got the better of the southpaw the last time the teams met.

At the other end, Zaheer Khan will be set to continue his battle against Hussey, and with the CSK side containing a few left-handers, the pace spearhead, will hope to influence proceedings to a greater degree than he did against Mumbai Indians.

Vettori's extra spin option is Syed Mohammed (a slow left-arm bowler like the captain himself), and another talking point will be whether the Kiwi persists with him, given that the likes of Suresh Raina (430 runs), Hussey (429 runs) and Morkel will be backing themselves to go over the top against deliveries turning into them.

While CSK's extended batting line-up allows for a fair amount of flexibility, RCB will be concerned by how its innings almost fell away after Gayle's dismissal. With three full days of rest between its matches and having also played a match less, the local side will also be considerably fresher. At the end of a long and gruelling period of cricket, Vettori will hope that the high of the win will offset the effects of fatigue in the final.

Explosive Chris Gayle and crafty Daniel Vettori sink Mumbai Indians

First, the explosive Chris Gayle delivered the big hits. Then, the crafty Daniel Vettori operated with control and guile to provide Royal Challengers Bangalore an emphatic 43-run win over Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier of the Indian Premier League IV at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Friday night.

Sachin Tendulkar's decision to field boomeranged. There was greater spin for the bowlers in the second half of the contest.

Pursuing a daunting 186, Mumbai Indians finished at a tame 142 for eight. The chasing side was outplayed.

RCB will meet holder Chennai Super Kings in the summit clash on Saturday. The face-off has immense possibilities.

Predatory

Vettori's men were predatory on the field against the side from Mumbai. RCB combined as a mean pack, created the pressure and seized the opportunities.

And the side struck early when aggressive left-hander Aiden Blizzard was held at long-on off efficient left-arm paceman S. Aravind. Pinch-hitter Harbhajan Singh too was prised out by Aravind soon after.

Sachin Tendulkar, though, was stroking with grace and timing. The gaps were found with precision.

In a game and format where one can expect the unexpected, unsung left-arm spinner Syed Mohammad got a quicker delivery to turn sharply past Tendulkar and ‘keeper Abraham de Villiers whipped off the bails. The maestro had been stumped.

Mumbai Indians lost ground rapidly with RCB skipper Vettori operating in a manner that was classical. The accomplished left-arm spinner deceived and consumed Rohit Sharma with his flight and loop. In the same over, Vettori got one to fatally drift into Ambatti Rayudu.

And when the big-hitting Kieron Pollard was spectacularly held by Abhimanyu Mithun at long-off — the fielder did extremely well to retain balance so close to the ropes — off Vettori, the game was going to end only one way.

RCB closed out the match in clinical fashion.

High-octane

Earlier, Man-of-the-Match Gayle was high on octane and low on sympathy for the bowlers. The left-hander is making all the right moves these days.

The ease with which he wades into the bowling is stunning. He picks the length early, creates room with subtle footwork and simply strikes through the line.

Gayle imparts so much power that even in the event of the ball not being timed to his liking, it still soars over the fence for the maximum.

Importantly, Gayle's batting is bereft of exaggerated movements. The feature of his rousing 47-ball 89 (9x4, 5x6) was the manner in which he essayed booming inside-out strokes on the off-side.

His easy, natural back-swing too is a thing of beauty and Gayle's sixes over the sight-screen took one's breath away. While he sought to get on to the front-foot, the manner in which he shifted his weight to the back-leg for those destructive pull shots reflected his flexibility.

Lasith Malinga fired in a yorker and Gayle swatted him to the fence. In the face-off between two game-changers, the West Indian found the right answers.

Mayank Agarwal (41 off 31 balls) played his role well in an imposing 113-run opening partnership in 10.4 overs.

Gayle and Agarwal also combined cleverly as a pair. It was Agarwal who took strike during much of Harbhajan's first two overs with the new ball —the Mumbai Indians wanted the off-spinner to operate more to the left-handed Gayle.

Agarwal whipped out a few vibrant strokes himself; none more than a straight six off Harbhajan after he danced down the track to convert the length.

Ordinary

The Mumbai Indians' catching was ordinary and Agarwal was put down twice; the first miss by Malinga at deep square-leg when the batsman was on 19 proved costly. Harbhajan was the bowler to suffer.

Gayle eventually fell to Munaf Patel —he was picked up at long on. But by then, the West Indian had inflicted considerable damage.

The side from Mumbai fought back. The young Abu Nechim — the paceman went for 27 runs in the opening over of the match — took out Virat Kohli on the pull.

But then, the nimble-footed Abraham de Villiers conjured a cameo in the end overs and Mumbai Indians had a mountain to climb.

And the side slipped.

Scorecard

Royal Challengers Bangalore: M. Agarwal c Rohit b Pollard 41 (31b, 4x4, 2x6), C. Gayle c Franklin b Patel 89 (47b, 9x4, 5x6), V. Kohli b Nechim 8 (12b), A.B. de Villiers (not out) 21, (15b, 1x6), L. Pomersbach c Malinga b Patel 4 (4b), S. Tiwary (not out) 8 (12b), Extras (w-13, nb-1): 14; Total (for four wkts. In 20 overs): 185.

Fall of wickets: 1-113, 2-148, 3-151, 4-157.

Mumbai Indians bowling: Abu Nechim 4-0-56-1, Harbhajan 4-0-40-0, Malinga 4-0-24-0, Munaf 4-0-27-2, Rohit 1-0-14-0, Pollard 3-0-24-1.

Mumbai Indians: A. Blizzard c Agarwal b Aravind 10 (11b, 2x4), S. Tendulkar st. de Villiers b Syed Mohammed 40 (24b, 7x4), Harbhajan Singh c Pomersbach b Aravind 13 (7b, 1x4, 1x6), Rohit Sharma c Pomersbach b Vettori 13 (15b, 1x4), J. Franklin b Khan 16 (17b, 1x6), A. Rayudu lbw b Vettori 0 (1b), K. Pollard c Mithun b Vettori 3 (6b), R. Sathish (not out) 18 (21b, 1x4), L. Malinga c Pomersbach b Syed Mohammed 7 (5b, 1x6), Abu Nechim (not out) 18 (13b, 1x4, 1x6), Extras (lb-2, w-2): 4; Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 142.

Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-41, 3-68, 4-82, 5-83, 6-89, 7-99, 8-110.

Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling: Khan 4-0-32-1, Aravind 3-0-27-2, Gayle 3-0-11-0, Mithun 2-0-26-0, Vettori 4-0-19-3, Syed Mohammed 4-0-25-2.

Man-of-the-match: Chris Gayle

"Windies young talent is surprisingly impressive" says Hooper

Former West Indies captain Carl Hooper says he can foresee the long struggling team bouncing back soon in world cricket as the young talent is surprisingly impressive.

“From what is being channelled into the development of West Indies cricket. We are certainly going in the right direction. Getting young cricketers involved and helping them in every way is certainly going in the right direction. It definitely will help. I can see us coming back up in world cricket,” he said.

Hooper has been appointed batting coach of the Sagicor High Performance Centre and is amazed by the talent he has seen so far.

“The amount of talent I am seeing here (at the Sagicor HPC) has surprised me. I was away (from West Indies) for a while and you would see the game on television, but now that you get close and actually see the guys playing it is clear there is still a lot of talent around,” the 44-year-old, who lives in Australia, was quoted as saying by the local media here.

“Having an ‘academy’ is a great thing for West Indies cricket. The good thing about it is that you have your best young players assembled together and they get to work together as a team. The efforts and emphasis, as is being done, have to be placed on ‘academies’ at the developmental levels, if we are to see an improvement in the game,” he added.

Hooper said the development programme is well-structured.

“The focus is to point the players in the right direction. Looking at a few of the guys, while there have very good hands and eyes — which has been one of the strengths of West Indians over the year — we need to work on some of the footwork.

“This is an area that I will spend the next few months working on and trying to encourage the young batsmen to use their feet a bit more,” Hooper explained.

Hooper played for the West Indies between 1987 and 2003, competing in 102 Test matches and 227 One-Day Internationals before retiring after the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

India' key players Tendulkar, Gambhir,Yuvraj to miss Carribean Tour

India' key players including Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh will miss the entire tour of the West Indies next month

Sachin Tendulkar will not be a part of the Indian squad for the three-Test series in the West Indies beginning June 20.

The BCCI said here on Friday that Tendulkar had requested for rest to spend more time with his family. The maestro, just one short of his 100th international century, will be available for the Test series in England.

The all-India selection panel, headed by Krishnamachari Srikkanth, met here on Friday to pick the Test team to the West Indies and announce injury replacements for the Twenty20 and ODI teams for the series in the Caribbean.

Gautam Gambhir, the skipper for the limited-over leg of the campaign, was ruled out of the tour due to a shoulder injury. Suresh Raina will now skipper the Twenty20 and ODI side in the West Indies. Harbhajan Singh will be the vice-captain.

Setback for Yuvraj

There was yet another injury setback for the Indian team. Like Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh will miss the entire tour. The left-handed Yuvraj is suffering from an upper respiratory infection, with a small patch of pneumonitis in his left lung.

Shikhar Dhawan and Manoj Tiwary will come in for Gambhir and Yuvraj in the limited-over squad.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni returns to skipper the Test side. Zaheer Khan too is back after being rested for the ODI series.

Dhoni's deputy

The experienced V.V.S. Laxman has been named vice-captain. In fact, much of India's prospects hinge on Laxman and Rahul Dravid.

With both Virender Sehwag and Gambhir not figuring in the side, Murali Vijay and Abhinav Mukund will be the specialist openers. Parthiv Patel, the second wicketkeeper, can double up as an opener in the event of an emergency. Raina, S. Badrinath and Virat Kohli make the cut but there is no room for Cheteshwar Pujara.

Harbhajan, Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha are the specialist spinners. The pace attack will be manned by Zaheer, Ishant Sharma, S. Sreesanth and Munaf Patel.

The squads:

Tests: M.S. Dhoni (captain), V.V.S. Laxman (vice-captain), M. Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, R. Dravid, V. Kohli, S. Badrinath, S. Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, S. Sreesanth, A. Mishra, P. Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel.

ODIs/T20: S. Raina (captain), R. Ashwin, S. Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh (vice-captain), V. Kohli, Praveen Kumar, A. Mishra, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel, Yusuf Pathan, W. Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Vinay Kumar, M. Tiwary, S. Dhawan.

“After 1996, cricket went into the hands of businessmen"says Arjuna Ranatunga in his speech in the Sri Lankan Parliament.

Sri Lanka’s longest-serving cricket captain and member of the Opposition DNA party in Parliament, Arjuna Ranatunga, claims that it was the interest shown by businessmen in the game, after Sri Lanka’s 1996 world cup win, that proved a bad influence on the game.

“After 1996, cricket went into the hands of businessmen. This happened with the ICC World Cup victory in 1996. Money flowed into cricket thereafter. These businessmen were aware how to deal with whatever government was in power,” said the newspaper Daily News, quoting his speech in the Sri Lankan Parliament on Wednesday.

Countering his claim, Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said: “I say with responsibility that our cricket is not experiencing a decline. This is a false statement…We have implemented a long-term plan for promotion of cricket and other sports.”

Ranatunga’s comments follow Hashan Tillekeratne’s charge on match-fixing in Sri Lanka. Hashan, former Sri Lankan captain and Western Provincial Council member for the Opposition UNP, has so far not given the proof for the fixing allegations that he had levelled.

Mr. Aluthgamage pointed to the fact that Hashan had not given any proof and that he had refused to appear in person too. “He was summoned officially twice, but did not appear. When he said that he was worried about his safety, we promised to provide the required security and the IGP too agreed. He does not answer even the phone. Even the ICC has inquired about him. Hashan it seems to be missing in action,” the Minister said in Parliament, according to Daily News.

The BCCI will drop the stand-in captain from the tour of the West Indies if he is found to be unfit.

The BCCI is in the process of analysing Gautam Gambhir’s medical reports and will drop the stand-in captain from the tour of the West Indies if he is found to be unfit.

BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan said the Board had received the report submitted by Kolkata Knight Riders’ physio Andrew Leipus on Gambhir’s shoulder injury and a decision will be taken very soon.

“We have received the report from Leipus and we are analysing it. We will take into account all aspects of the injury”, Srinivasan told PTI.

“We are taking stock of the report and we will take a final decision once we are through with it. If we find that he is not fit, he will not go on the tour. We will then decide on a replacement”, he said.

Gambhir, named captain of the team for next month’s West Indies tour, sustained the injury to his right shoulder during the World Cup final against Sri Lanka last month while taking a catch.

The injury got further aggravated when Gambhir made a sliding stop during their IPL match against Mumbai Indians on May 22.

Gambhir is still not sure how bad his shoulder injury is as he is still awaiting the result of MRI scan, done to measure the extent of damage. KKR’s physio Leipus, in his report to the BCCI, said Gambhir needs four to six weeks’ rest to recover fully, which means that the Indian opener could even miss the subsequent tour of England.

"Odd that I’m banned from playing cricket" says Salman Butt

He was indicted by the ICC for spot fixing and is also facing criminal charges for corruption but Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt still finds it ‘odd’ to be banned from playing cricket.

Butt along with compatriots Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamer was banned for at least five years by the ICC for their involvement in spot-fixing during the Lord’s Test against England.

The three players have challenged their respective bans in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) but no date has been fixed for the hearing as yet.

Butt, who led the Test side, pleaded innocence to the spot-fixing and corruption charges against him.

“Playing international cricket isn’t easy and I had to give everything in order to make a livelihood out of the game.

Right now, I’m training to keep fit. I’m barred from playing cricket at any level and I find that very odd,” Butt told The Express Tribune newspaper.

The left-handed batsman said his passion for the game is alive despite all the controversies.

“The enthusiasm cannot be forced, it’s a gift from God.

The spirit is still high and love for the game never dies,” he said.

After being banned by the ICC, the Crown Prosecution Service of the United Kingdom slapped corruption and cheating charges against the Pakistani trio.

Butt said he was prepared to fight a long battle to prove his innocence despite the odds stacked against him.

“I will not give up the right and remain optimistic about redeeming myself.”