The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has undergone a significant overhaul of its men’s selection committee, appointing four new voting members: Aleem Dar, Aaqib Javed, Azhar Ali, and Hasan Cheema. This move comes just over 10 days after Mohammad Yousuf’s resignation from the panel.
The appointments mark the latest restructuring of the selection committee, which has seen several changes this year. Notably, coaches will no longer have a say in squad selection. Asad Shafiq and Cheema were already part of the committee, but Cheema has now been granted voting rights.
The selection panel was initially restructured earlier this year under PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi, with no chief selector appointed. However, Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq were sacked after Pakistan’s early exit from the T20 World Cup in June, without any replacements named. Yousuf’s resignation at the end of last month also left Shafiq as the only voting member outside of the captains and coaches.
The appointment of the new voting members comes shortly after Pakistan’s innings-and-47-run defeat to England in the first Test in Multan. This loss made Pakistan the first team in Test history to lose a match by an innings after scoring over 550 runs in their first innings.
As a result of this defeat, Pakistan has slipped to the bottom of the World Test Championship (WTC) points table with only 16 points from eight games. The team’s performance has raised concerns about the effectiveness of the selection committee and the overall direction of Pakistan cricket.
The PCB’s decision to appoint four new voting members is an attempt to address these concerns and improve the team’s performance. The new members bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the committee, and their input is expected to be valuable in selecting the best possible squads for upcoming matches.
