Ready to resign only if Zardari asks: Butt

Lahore, Jan.15 (ANI): Amid the heavy criticism that he has faced in the wake of Pakistan's deplorable performance in the Test series Down Under, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt has said that he would not hesitate to step down from the post if President Asif Ali Zardari, as the patron of the PCB, asks him to do so.

Butt said he has not been asked to submit his papers by Zardari, and that he would continue to head the board until that eventuality.

"The chief patron appointed me and he has every right to remove me if he feels I am not doing a good job. But until I am the chairman of PCB I will continue to work the way I see fit. I am not going to be bothered by any criticism from anyone," The Daily Times quoted Butt, as saying.

He said Zardari has the sole authority to question or remove him, and added he has given his all to run the PCB in a better way in adverse conditions.

"I know that I am trying to do my best for Pakistan cricket in difficult circumstances. If the team has not done well in Australia it's performance should not be linked with the board," Butt said.

Following Pakistan's shameful defeat in the second Test match against Australia at Sydney, demands about sacking Butt were raised from different quarters.

However, officials, privy to the issue, have suggested that Zardari is unlikely to axe Butt.

Meanwhile, former chief selector and Test cricketer Salahuddin Ahmed Sallu has urged Zardari to remove Butt and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Wasim Bari from their respective posts to rescue Pakistan cricket.

"The president as patron PCB must take notice of the rapid decline in Pakistan cricket during the tenure of Ijaz Butt and Wasim Bari and the two officials should not be allowed to destroy things anymore as the national team is facing defeat after defeat," Sallu said.

"PCB's affairs are in a shambles due to incompetent administrators in the PCB as the national team has lost all the Test rubbers and the ODI series with the exception of the New Zealand series which was drawn," he added. (ANI)