Fans hit back at former Pakistan captain Salman Butt who made controversial remarks about India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.

Salman Butt's ‘insulting remarks' against the explosive India wicketkeeper batter came after Rishabh Pant made 46 runs off 45 balls in India's first innings of the ongoing opening Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram.

Though Rishabh Pant's knock was praised by many former India cricketers, Salman Butt was critical of his knock as he was unable to complete a big score despite getting his eyes set in the middle.

He was also scathing in his criticism of the Uttarakhand-born cricket star due to the manner of his dismissal. After his counter-attacking knock helped India recover from a poor start, Rishabh Pant played on to lose his wicket, just four runs short of his half-century.

Salman Butt attributed his dismissal to his lack of fitness, even claiming that the left-hander was “overweight” and didn't look agile on the pitch.

“Rishabh Pant jaise khelte hai waise hi khele phir ek innovation karne gaye aur ajeeb sa out hua baat ko laga phir bad pe laga and then stumps mein. Main unki fitness pe hamesha baat islie karta hu ki jis tarike ka shots wo create karne ki koshis karte hai, agar wo fit ho toh asaani hogi ye execute karne mein. (Rishabh Pant was playing the way he likes to, but he went for something innovative and got out. It was a weird dismissal as the ball hit the bat, pad before rattling the stumps. I always speak on Rishabh Pant's fitness because the kind of shots he plays and tries to innovate, it would be easier for him to execute those shots if he was fit.) I think he is overweight. Definitely, he is overweight and because of that, he is not very agile. He is under the level where he should be, in terms of fitness,” Salman Butt said on his YouTube channel.

Salman Butt's comments were not appreciated on social media as Indian cricket supporters mocked him by posting Inzamam-ul-Haq memes while others declared that Rishabh Pant was fitter than the entire Pakistan team led by Babar Azam.

 

However, this isn't the first time Salman Butt has pointed out the fitness issues of Indian players. In September, he created a furor with his statement on the likes of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant.

Salman Butt opined that several members of the Indian cricket team, including skipper Rohit Sharma, wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant and to an extent vice-captain KL Rahul were just not fit enough to compete at the highest level of the game and that’s why they were struggling on the turf.

“I don’t know if others will talk about this or not, but in my view, Team India’s fitness is not ideal. Apart from the likes of Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya, fitness is not their strongest point. Some of them are not outstanding on the field. They lack pace in bowling and they don’t take their chances in the field,”  Salman Butt said on his Youtube channel.

“KL Rahul dropped a catch in the field. He seemed so lethargic as he approached the ball. Axar also dropped a catch at mid-wicket. So, if you drop such catches then batters won’t give you another chance.”

“Pace bowling and fitness are worrying signs for India ahead of the World Cup,” he added.

“Indian players are the highest-paid cricketers in the world. They play the maximum number of matches. You tell me why is their fitness not up to the mark? If we compare their fitness with others teams like South Africa, Australia and England, the Indians are no match. I would even say some Asian teams are ahead of India. Some Indian players are overweight. I think they need to work on that because they are brilliant cricketers,” Salman Butt elaborated.

“Virat Kohli has set an example for others in fitness. Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya are so fit. They have outstanding fitness, but there are players like Rohit Sharma, even KL Rahul looked lethargic today, you know, Rishabh Pant. If they become fit, they will become more dangerous cricketers,” Salman Butt summed up.

On Saturday, Rishabh Pant was among the top trends on Twitter after he made a stunning stumping to send Bangladesh batter Nurul Hasan back to the pavilion.

His stunning glove work even led to his comparisons with the legendary MS Dhoni with the veteran Dinesh Karthik heaping rich praise on him for his lightning stumping.

“He idolizes MS Dhoni and Dhoni would be really proud of the way he did that stumping. The beauty about it is, when the ball is pitched closer, it can be hard to react faster. You get the feeling that the batsman is going to play the shot. But Pant was ready for the ball to miss the bat, and he was already bringing his hand towards the stump. That's why it was done at such a quick speed,” Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz.