“They at least win all of their home Tests” – Salman Butt says India are miles ahead of Pakistan in red-ball cricket

Former Pakistan opener Salman Butt feels India are miles ahead of Pakistan in Test cricket. While Australia has taken an impregnable lead of 2-0 against Pakistan, South Africa won the opening Test match against India comprehensively by an innings and 32 runs.

Meanwhile, India has never won a Test series on the South African soil and they will now need to wait for another tour to get that chance. However, India has won two Test series Downunder as they registered 2-1 series victories on 2018-19 and 2020-21 tours whereas Pakistan has never won a Test series in Australia.

India is at the numero uno position in the ICC Test rankings whereas Pakistan at the sixth place. Furthermore, India has an impeccable record while playing in their own conditions.

Speaking in his latest YouTube video, Butt remarked: “India have always struggled in South Africa. They have won in Australia but have not looked very comfortable in South Africa. However, you still cannot compare Pakistan to India. They at least win all of their home Tests; we tend to lose even at home.

“The comparison isn’t there. Pakistan have never won a series in Australia, whereas they have won two over there. India have played good cricket in England as well.”

On the other hand, South African selectors had to name an inexperienced squad for the tour of New Zealand due to unavailability of their players because of SA20 contracts. Butt expressed his displeasure and urged that South African cricket must find a solution for the situation.

“South Africa have named an inexperienced squad for the Test series, in which the captain himself is a debutant. Such a team was made just because their main players wanted to play in T20 leagues. I don’t know if they will think about this or will just continue to distribute NOCs to the players. All of the top-class cricketers know that this is very wrong. If such things continue, there won’t be any difference between cricket and baseball.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan has posted 313 runs on the board against Australia on the opening day of the New Year’s Test at the SCG.