“Since he [Salman] has shown consistency and established himself as a matured player in the recent past, he should be made vice captain of the team,” he said on Tuesday.

Salman Butt emerged as a strong contender to captain the national side in Tests as Shahid Afridi had withdrawn his name from longer format of the game. But after his willingness to play Test cricket, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday decided to appoint him captain for the Asia Cup and the entire tour of England.

“Salman was the best choice to captain the team in Tests in the absence of Shahid Afridi. But as he [Afridi] will lead the national side now, Salman should be given the opportunity to act as his deputy, not only in Tests but also in ODIs and T20s”, Qadir said.

In the past Abdul Qadir had suggested that Salman Butt should not be part of T20 squad. But he said the recent performance of the batsman in the shorter format had made him to change his mind.

“He [Salman] has worked really hard and proved that he is equally a useful player for Twenty20 cricket. His brilliant knock with the bat in T20s in the recent past has forced me to suggest to make him vice-captain for one-dayers and T20s also,” he said.

Though, Salman hit only four sixes during the World T20, fewer than anyone else in the top fifteen, he was the third highest run-getter in the tournament, with 223 runs at 44.60, and a very good strike-rate of 131.17.

Abdul Qadir said there were also some other reasons that he was supporting Salman Butt as vice captain.

“He is quite young and hence would play a lot of cricket. We need to prepare a leadership for future and Salman is the most suitable person for that. Moreover, he is also a good speaker of English language,” he asserted.—Agencies