Salman Butt, former Pakistan captain, has been appointed the consulting head coach for the Singapore national side for the entire 2022 season. A local support staff will assist him in this stint, with the former Pakistan women’s team trainer Jamal Hussain joining as fielding coach and trainer.
Singapore, an associate member of International Cricket Council, will compete in three tournaments in the next five months for qualification into ICC’s marquee events. The three tournaments include T20 World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe in July, Asia Cup qualifier in August in Sri Lanka and Men’s Challenge League A in Canada for ODI World Cup.
Saad Janjua, the chief executive officer of the Singapore Cricket Association, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Butt will stay in Singapore and travel with the team as consulting head coach.
This will be Butt’s first major coaching role after retiring as a player in 2022. His career has been marred by spot-fixing scandal in 2010, for which he had to serve a five-year ban. Butt was reintegrated into the Pakistan system in 2016 but his return to the national side never quite worked out despite showing form in the domestic circuit.
Butt played two games for Lahore Qalandars in 2019 but couldn’t get any more gametime. He was rumoured to be included in the Pakistan Test squad for the West Indies tour in 2017 but the news of the 2017 spot-fixing scandal broke out before the squad announcement and the selectors opted against picking him.
Since calling time on his playing career, Butt has tried his hands at commentating and analyst gigs. The coaching role with Singapore is a big opportunity for Butt. The left hand batter had represented Pakistan in 135 international matches, scoring over 5000 runs across three formats from 2003 to 2010.
