LEEDS: Salman Butt has insisted captaining a young Pakistan side shouldn`t be "that much of a hassle" when he leads the team in the second Test against Australia here at Headingley.
Butt was thrust in to what is widely regarded as one of the most difficult jobs in world cricket after former skipper Shahid Afridi quit the five-day format after the team`s 150-run loss in the first Test at Lord`s last week.
Former vice-captain Butt, a 25-year-old opener who scored Pakistan`s only two fifties at Lord`s, will become his country`s seventh Test skipper in three years when the Australia finale starts on Wednesday.
However, he takes over a team without former captains and senior batsmen Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan, both suspended following the team`s 3-0 series loss in Australia earlier this year.
In the duo`s absence, top-order batsmen Azhar Ali and Umar Amin made Test debuts at Lord`s.
With Afridi out of the campaign against England that follows the Australia series, there has been a suggestion at least one of Yousuf or Younus could be recalled for those four Tests.
However, Butt, publicly berated by then captain Yousuf after running the senior batsmen out during the third Test against Australia in Hobart in January, told reporters here on Tuesday: "All my life, from teenage cricket up to this level I have been captain throughout.
"I think I should enjoy it. It`s a challenge...It`s a young unit, it shouldn`t be that much of a hassle."
As for either Yousuf or Younus coming back, Butt replied: "All I said was any player who comes into the Pakistan team will not get experiences unless they get a good run.
"I think those two guys (Azhar Ali and Umar Amin) will carry on and Pakistan will get two very good players in future out of them."
Pakistan, bowled out for 148 in the first innings, made 289 in the second and Butt added: "For myself, I have to carry on the way I was playing at Lord`s. The last innings we played at Lord`s was a better result, even though it was a large total (440) we were chasing."
And he insisted the Hobart run-out and his subsequent public dressing down by Yousuf was now all in the past. "It should not be done that way but if it is done in the heat of the moment we must always forget and forgive because we have to move on."
Ricky Ponting, Butt`s Australia counterpart, has remained captain despite twice leading his country to Ashes series defeats by England.
By contrast, even defeat in one match can lead to calls for a Pakistan captain to be axed.
Butt, who has been made captain until the end of the England Test series, said of his "great honour": "Everybody who gets into this kind of a challenging position, it helps to be a permanently appointed person but that`s the kind of nature we have.
"But hopefully, if we do well, maybe we can stretch it a bit longer."
Asked about his captaincy style, Butt said: "I like to make my points clear but you don`t become a Dad when you become a captain. But you always have to keep on thinking.
"Every captain has his own way. There`s no point criticising or discussing others, let`s see how I go about it."
Pakistan have lost their last 13 Tests against Australia - a record for one country against another that stretches back to 1995 - and Butt was clear about what they needed to do to end that streak.
"We have to bat longer, put some more runs on the board. The bowlers have always done well against the Aussies, it`s just the tail we have got to get out a bit quicker."
BDST: 1942hrs, July 20, 2010
