Wahab Riaz is the new Pakistan chief selector

By
cricadmin
-
0
115
Wahab Riaz is the new Pakistan chief selector


Former Pakistan fast bowler Wahab Riaz has been named the new chief selector of the senior men’s team. His appointment comes soon after Inzamam-ul-Haq resigned from the role amid allegations of conflict of interest and in the wake of widespread set-up changes at the end of a below-par ODI World Cup campaign.
Wahab, who retired from international cricket in August this year, will start in his new role ahead of the three-match Test series in Australia, to be played in December-January, which will be followed by a five-match T20I series in New Zealand in January. Although he has not formally retired from franchise cricket, his PSL team, Peshawar Zalmi, posted a tweet on Friday thanking Wahab for his “exceptional services to the team”, adding, “thank you for your countless contributions over the last 8 years and always You will be an integral part of the Zalmi family.”

The other members of the selection committee have not yet been named.

“He [PCB’s] “The decision to involve former players in cricket matters is commendable and I am willing to work towards the betterment of Pakistan cricket,” Wahab said in a board statement. “Leading a selection committee is a challenging task. We have an important tour of Australia that forms part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 ​​cycle and a T20I series against New Zealand that will allow us to develop a formidable unit ahead of the Cup.” ICC T20 World Cup in USA and West India in June next year.

“I have a good relationship with Pakistan men’s team manager Mohammad Hafeez and we will work closely for the success of Pakistan cricket. My main objective would be to give weight to the best players in domestic cricket and announce complete teams equipped with the skills necessary. “I will always be available to the players for feedback and advice.”

The chief selector’s position fell vacant when Inzamam resigned on October 30, when the World Cup was still underway and Pakistan was still in contention for a place in the semi-finals, following uncomfortable questions about a possible conflict of interest situation. .

Reports in sections of the Pakistani media said that Inzamam was an active director in a UK-based company, Yazoo International Ltd, of which a gentleman named Talha Rehmani was also a director; Rehmani is also the CEO of a company called Saya Corporation, which represents many prominent Pakistani cricketers, including Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan. According to gov.uk, a UK government public sector information website, Rizwan is also a director of Yazoo alongside Inzamam. The secretary of the company is Intisar-ul-Haq, brother of Inzamam.

Inzamam became a director of the company in question on December 7, 2020, and when he was announced as Pakistan’s chief selector earlier this year, his stake in the company was not made public.

Pakistan formally exited the World Cup on 11 November after losing their final match of the league stage to England in Kolkata, and Babar Azam resigned as Pakistan’s captain in all three formats on 15 November. Subsequently, Shan Masood and Afridi were named Test and T20I captains. formats respectively, while no ODI captain was named as Pakistan’s next engagement in that format is far away.

The ICC’s future tour program does not have an ODI listed for Pakistan for a year; Their next matches in the format are a three-game series scheduled in Australia in November 2024.

Meanwhile, Hafeez has been appointed Pakistan team manager, replacing Mickey Arthur, and has been given the additional responsibility of being the team’s head coach on a temporary basis for the tours of Australia and New Zealand.