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Salman Butt-Ramiz Raja (Image source- Twitter)
Imran Tahir of South Africa and Colin Munro of New Zealand were officially announced as mentors for the Pakistan Junior League (PJL) by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last week. Along with former West Indies captain Daren Sammy, former Pakistan skippers Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik have already been named mentors in the league.
Both Tahir and Munro participated in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). However, Salman Butt, the former captain of the national team, harshly criticised the PCB and its chairman Ramiz Raja for bringing in foreign mentors.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Butt was questioned about whether Pakistan had enough former cricket players who could serve as mentors. In response, the former batter unleashed a brutal assault on PCB and Ramiz, claiming that Pakistan lacks both its own mentors and the soil necessary to prepare wickets. The statement was made about Pakistan's decision to play Australia on drop-in pitches for the recent Test series.
"There are no players who can mentor youngsters in Pakistan. There is no one. We don't even have soil to put on wickets in Pakistan, and you are talking about mentors. You have to bring drop-in pitches from different country, soil from different country, coaches and mentors from different countries. Bring a chairman from some other country too, no? There's nothing to talk about on this," Butt said.
Imran Tahir on the PJL
Imran Tahir has expressed his happiness at being chosen as a mentor in the PJL. Although the spinner was born in Pakistan, he competed for South Africa internationally.
"Returning to Lahore for the Pakistan Junior League in a team mentor’s role is one of my most satisfying achievements as I still owe a lot to my country of birth. This is an exciting opportunity to work with emerging slow bowlers and help them develop and flourish so that they have a chance to emulate the great spinners this country has produced," Tahir had said.