India succeeding in Test cricket because of strong domestic setup, asserts Salman Butt

After winning the Test series against Australia 1-0 in October last year, the Pakistan Cricket team has lost the Test series against Newzealand 1-2 and are currently trailing South Africa after losing the first Test at the Centurion. With the string of losses have come criticism and former Pakistani cricketer Salman Butt, in comparing arch-rivals India and Pakistan, has stated that Pakistan has lacked the domestic setup that has been helping India put a strong performance in overseas conditions.

"India is doing well because their players are only allowed to play in the IPL T20 cricket and have to play Ranji Trophy unlike us where most players tend to avoid four-day domestic cricket,” Butt said to PTI.

After faring decently in South Africa losing the series 1-2, India took a beating in England as they went down 1-4. However, they have managed to turn the tables in Australia now and already managing to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, currently leading the series 2-1 with one more match to go in the series.

"Look when India won the recent Test against Australia, Virat Kohli credited India's domestic cricket for the success in bowling and batting. Look most of them (Pakistani players) have not even played 50 first class games. Not many of them have spent time in domestic four-day cricket. Worse they have played all their cricket mostly in UAE conditions," said Butt, who has played 33 Tests and 78 ODIs in his international cricket career.

Following the 2010 Lord's spot-fixing scandal, Butt was convicted and jailed for 30 months for his involvement. He was banned from playing for ten years, of which five years was a suspended sentence. He was released from jail in 20.