Thaindian News

Karachi, May 25(ANI): Pakistan opening batsman Salman Butt, who was the leading run scorer for Pakistan in the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies, feels that his style of batting suits the shortest version of the game as it is “not just about the fours and sixes”.

“Twenty over cricket has a place for what I would term “proper strokemakers”-batsmen who play their shots on the merit of each delivery. 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,” Pakpassion.net quoted Butt, as saying.

“As a batsman in Twenty over cricket, 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,” he added.

The 25-year-old further said that the Pakistan team could have performed better in the tournament as they had been consistently performing well as a unit.

“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,” Butt said.

“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,” he added. (ANI)