Twenty20 has room for proper stroke-makers - Salman Butt

Salman Butt, the mainstay of Pakistan's batting in the recently concluded World Twenty20, believed that his success during the event was based on understanding that the youngest format of the game was not about just slogging.

"Twenty-over cricket has a place for what I would term "proper stroke-makers" - batsmen who play their shots on the merit of each delivery," Butt told Pakpassion.net. "Bowlers are fighting back when it comes to this form of the game and they are finding new ways to innovate and to restrict the batting side. As a batsman I think you have to play the high percentage shots, the shots that you know you can play, the shots that you feel you can score off effectively."

"If you think about it, get four or five singles in an over and one boundary in the same over, and you have accumulated eight or nine runs in that over, which if you can maintain and you will end up with 160-plus. It's not just about the fours and sixes". Butt was the third highest run-getter in the tournament, with 223 runs at 44.60, and a strike-rate of 131.17. Interestingly, he hit only four sixes during the tournament, fewer than anyone else in the top fifteen.

His top score came in the Super Eights match against New Zealand, which Pakistan contrived to lose by one run, when tail-ender Abdur Rehman spooned a catch into the deep off the last ball, with Butt stranded at the non-striker's end on 73. Butt had run a bye off the penultimate ball to relinquish the strike, and he backed his decision in hindsight.

"We needed 11 off the last over and then three off two deliveries after I managed to hit two boundaries. Rehman and I had a chat before the penultimate delivery and decided that we would go for a bye even if I did not connect with the ball. We scampered a bye and then had another chat before the final delivery. We decided that again we would run for anything and we were confident that if it went to the super over, in Mohammad Aamer we had a bowler who would see us to victory.

Rehman had not batted previously in the tournament as of course it was his first match, so I said to him to at least look for a single. However when the ball was bowled by [Ian] Butler, Rehman's eye's lit up at the leg-stump half volley. He went for a boundary and connected really well. If the ball had been a few yards either side of the fielder it would have gone for a boundary. Thinking back I thought the planning was satisfactory and it was really painful when we did not at least score a single on that final delivery," Butt said.

Despite that loss, their second in two Super Eights games, Pakistan roared back into the tournament with a fine victory against South Africa to enter the final four. They dominated their semi-final match against Australia from the outset and looked on course for their third consecutive World Twenty20 final before running into a rampaging Michael Hussey, who stole 18 off the final over to put it past them. Butt admitted there was little his side could have done to deny Hussey in that kind of form.

"Yes we can be satisfied with reaching the semi-finals, but the target is always to win trophies. We came back very well after the New Zealand defeat to beat the South Africans and I thought we were gaining enough momentum and on our way to the final. "We made the highest score any team made in the tournament against Australia, but it was one of those occasions where you have to credit Mike Hussey for his batting. I would say that rather than Pakistan losing the semi-final, it was more a case of Hussey winning the match for Australia," Butt said.

Butt credited his coaches, Ijaz Ahmed and Waqar Younis, for his fine run of form in the West Indies. "They really backed me during the tournament and gave me a lot of self-belief and confidence. As a batsman once you receive the backing and you have the self confidence, then that is half the battle," Butt said.

Butt hopes to feature in Pakistan's next assignment, the Asia Cup one-day tournament which will be held on the bowler-friendly wickets at Dambulla in Sri Lanka. "Hopefully I will get selected. The conditions in Dambulla are very tricky for top order batsmen as the ball seams around a lot in the first hour or so. Winning the toss could be pivotal in the result of the matches in Sri Lanka," he said.

After the Asia Cup, Pakistan embark on a tour of England where they will face the hosts and Australia in six Tests, and Butt is up for the potentially tough examination. "Facing the Australian and English bowling attacks will be a tough test. They are amongst the best bowling attacks in the world at the moment and they will thoroughly test me and the other Pakistani batsmen. However when you face tough opponents, it helps you to develop your game and to work harder at improvements in your game and technique," Butt said.

Butt's name has done the rounds as a potential captain for Pakistan in Test matches, following the retirement of Mohammad Yousuf, but he has not dwelled much on the possibility. "I have read a few articles in the press and I know that a few ex-players have suggested that I should be given the opportunity. Of course it would be an honour to lead my country, but it is not something I have been thinking about. I would much rather concentrate on my batting in the upcoming Asia Cup and tour of England," he said.