Minutes after Pakistan suffered an innings loss to England in the opening match of the three-match Test series against England in Multan, the PCB made the decision public.
As per subtleties distributed on the cricket board’s site, Aleem, Aaqib, Azhar, another ex-Test hitter Asad Shafiq, information investigator Hassan Cheema and the public side’s commander and the lead trainer are the democratic individuals from the choice advisory group.
The ex-officio or non-casting a ballot individuals from the board of trustees incorporate Azhar Mahmood (partner mentor), Bilal Afzal (consultant to the PCB administrator), Nadeem Khan (chief superior execution) and Usman Wahla (chief worldwide cricket).
As a result of former international Mohammad Yousuf’s “voluntary” resignation from the committee late last month, the number of selectors Pakistan has used since August 2021 has increased to 26.
The newly reorganized selection committee, which still lacks a head, met on Friday afternoon at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore to select Pakistan’s team for the second and third Tests against England.
According to a press release issued by the PCB, they will travel to Multan on Saturday to meet the head curator, Pakistan captain Shan Masood, and red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie to finalize the team for the match. Multan is also the location of the second Test.
Bombed Tests
Since accepting the chairmanship of the PCB in February, Mohsin Naqvi has explored different avenues regarding different determination boards of trustees and group the executives structures. However, Pakistan’s national men’s and women’s cricket teams’ decline has not been halted by these modifications.
The nation’s recent results have been disappointing. Under former chairman Zaka Ashraf, Pakistan failed to qualify for the Super Eight stage of the ICC T20 World Cup in June and performed poorly in the 50-over World Cup held in India last year. Additionally, the team was unable to win the Asia Cup in 2023.
In the beyond 19 months, three executives — Najam Sethi, Zaka Ashraf, and Mohsin Naqvi — have framed their separate groups and choice boards of trustees. Mohsin proposed a seven-member headless national selection committee, which was criticized for not having a chairman and including Bilal, a cricketer.
With Yousuf’s resignation and the removal of Abdul Razzaq from the committee, things have changed. Bilal’s position was changed to that of a non-voting member. Only Asad holds the position of captain and head coach at the moment.
The experiment was found to be ineffective. In any case, Mohsin keeps on enhancing, designating umpire Aleem as a selector. Beforehand, Wahab Riaz was delegated senior group supervisor, however this choice was switched following the group’s terrible showing.
Aaqib has joined the selection committee. He is also the director of cricket operations and the bowling consultant for Lahore Qalandars, a franchise in the Pakistan Super League.
Aaqib’s dual roles with the franchise and PCB do not constitute a conflict of interest, according to Lahore Qalandars owner Atif Rana, citing precedents set by Azhar, Saqlain Mushtaq, and Inzam-ul-Haq.
