Corruption cannot be completely eradicated from cricket says Salman Butt

Disgraced former Pakistan captain Salman Butt who is currently playing domestic cricket after returning from his five-year ban claims that cricket can never be completely free of corruption. He has, however, praised the mechanism put in place by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the national cricket boards to combat such elements and safeguard the game.

Butt, along with fellow players Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, was banned for a period of five years after being found guilty of spot-fixing in 2010. He returned to cricket in September 2015 and while lauding the ICC, he does not believe that corruption can be completely eradicated from the sport.

"I have been there and I have seen it. Complete elimination is not possible because it requires just one moment of weakness and one wrong decision to destroy yourself with corruption. But it is a fact that after the spot fixing scandal involving us in 2010 a lot of deterrents have been put into place to educate the players about anti-corruption measures. I myself have given lectures to teams on this issue from first hand experience. It has made a difference", Butt said to PTI.

The 32-year-old has been in brilliant form since his return from the ban, with his twin centuries helping his domestic side win their first ever Quaid Trophy crown. Through these performances, the southpaw aims to get back in the reckoning for the national side, claiming that he wants play for Pakistan once again.

"I am just thankful to God for giving me another chance to taste cricket success. I just know that there is true remorse in my heart for what happened six years ago and I just pray I get another chance to play for Pakistan and to do something big for the country to atone for what I did", the former Test skipper added.

Butt has played 33 Tests, 78 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 24 Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) for his country so far scoring 1889, 2725 and 595 runs respectively.