“Rehne de ye show? Kahi legal notice na aa jaaye” - Salman Butt takes a dig at PCB over notice to Kamran Akmal
Salman Butt has taken a dig at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and its chairman Ramiz Raja over the cricket board’s decision to send a legal notice to Kamran Akmal. While discussing the issue on his YouTube channel, he asked the anchor in a light-hearted tone whether they must stop their show, or else they might also end up receiving a notice.
A couple of days back, reports emerged in the media that PCB had sent a legal notice to keeper-batter Akmal. A source to the cricketer was quoted as saying in a PTI report that “apparently the legal notice has been sent because the chairman feels Kamran made defamatory, false and offensive comments in the media about him.”
Akmal is among a plethora of past and present Pakistani cricketers who run their own YouTube channels. He has 169000 subscribers. Reacting to the legal notice being served to the keeper-batter, Butt joked on his YouTube channel:
“Rehne de ye show? Kahi legal notice na aa jaaye (Should we stop the show? Else we might also get legal notice).”
On a serious note, he added that there is nothing wrong with people giving their opinions on the game. Butt stated:
“Speaking about technical aspects, giving your opinion and speaking based on your experience, especially those who have much more of it than policy-makers (is fine). You cannot challenge opinions. You can convince people with your explanation, logic and reasoning.”
Apart from Butt and Akmal, former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, Danish Kaneria, Shoaib Akhtar, and Saeed Ajmal, among others from the Pakistani cricket fraternity, actively share their views on their respective YouTube channels.
Incidentally, Raja himself was an active critic and analyst on YouTube before taking over as PCB chief.
“We should not cross the line” - Salman Butt
While backing freedom of expression, Butt stated that people sharing their opinions must be careful not to get personal and should also refrain from making derogatory remarks. He commented:
“There is one more thing here. If we are talking about something, it should not personally hit anyone. We should not cross the line with regards to someone’s personality, looks and personal lives. We have not right to do that. Nor does anyone else have a right to cross the line against us. If someone has done it, people should refrain from such things.”
Butt, a former Pakistan captain, played 33 Tests and 78 ODIs before the 2010 spot-fixing controversy brought a premature end to his international career.