Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi is opposed to the return of Salman Butt to the national side and said that an example must be made out of those who have been involved in the recent spot-fixing scandal.

"Such measures will keep players for acting irresponsibly in the future," Afridi said.

"My stance has been simple from day one. Had we set this example in the past, incidents like the recent spot fixing scandal would never have emerged," Afridi maintained.

Butt, along with team-mates Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, was handed a ban after the three were caught in a spot-fixing case on Pakistan's tour of England in 2010.

The trio was accused of arranging deliberate no-balls during the match, for which they were also jailed by a UK court.

Pakistan fast-tracked Amir's return to international cricket last year after the International Cricket Council amended its code last year, allowing banned players to return to domestic cricket six months before their ban ends.

Pakistan cricket was shaken up with another spot fixing scandal when it emerged that a number of cricketers were involved in a spot fixing scandal in the second season of Pakistan Super League.

So far, five Pakistani cricketers have been suspended in the spot-fixing case; besides Sharjeel and Khalid, the list includes Shahzaib Hasan, Mohammad Irfan, and Nasir Jamshed.

On March 20, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan approved putting the names of the five players involved in the PSL spot-fixing scandal on the Exit Control List (ECL). The minister also ordered investigations against the bookies involved in the practice as well.

Praise for Peshawar Zalmi's talent hunt

Shahid Afridi who visited the ICC Academy in Dubai to support Peshawar Zalmi's young team praised the team management and coach Muhammad Akram for conducting a talent hunt in Khyber Pakhtunkwa last year.

"Academies and facilities exist in major cities but in small cities of the province no such facilities exist so all credit to the coach management that they reached out to talented cricketers in rural areas," Afridi said.

Talking about the new blood touring Dubai for the Emirates t20 tournament Afridi said, "The Peshawar Zalmis will be participating in the Emirates T20 and majority of the players on tour are those that emerged from last year's talent hunt."

"Who knows, some of these players may become a part of the national squad very soon.

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