Butt wants openers to be persisted with

Salman Butt, the Pakistan opener, said his side's problems at the top would not be solved unless the team leadership "identify the two best opening batsmen and then persist with them."

Pakistan have juggled their opening combination in recent times, using as many as seven players at the top of the order in ODIs in 2007. "It's difficult for an opening batsman to concentrate on his game if he is uncertain about his place in the team," Butt told the Pakistan-based daily, the News.

Butt has struggled to cement his place in the side since his debut in 2004 and was omitted for the home series against South Africa last month. However, he has struck form in the ODI series against India - scoring 50, 37 and 129 in the first three games - and offering a solution to half of Pakistan's opening conundrum.

While his 129 in Kanpur was his highest score in ODIs, he still cherishes the 108 he made against India on November 13, 2004 in the Platinum Jubilee Match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. "It is still my most favourite knock," he said. "It was my first game against India and was played in front of more than 100,000 spectators."

Butt has also been praised by Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson. "Butt is setting a fine example of what we would call work ethic, something the Australians have with every single one of their players," the News quoted Lawson as saying in his syndicated column.