Daily Times

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday, once again, appointed former Test captain and prolific batsman Inzamamul Haq as the national men team’s chief selector. The decision of re-appointment was taken by PCB chief Zaka Ashraf. Inzamam, who served as chief selector between 2016 and 2019, has been brought on board ahead of the Asia Cup and the ICC World Cup 2023. During his previous stint, Inzamam’s selected team brought Pakistan its maiden ICC Champions Trophy title in June 2017 by defeating India in the final by 180 runs at The Oval, London. With his appointment, Inzamam has withdrawn himself from the PCB Cricket Technical Committee and his replacement will be announced in due course.

Inzamam’s first assignment back in the role would be to pick a squad for Pakistan’s upcoming three-match ODI series against Afghanistan in Sri Lanka, which commences on August 22, followed by the Asia Cup and later the World Cup. Pakistan begin their World Cup campaign on October 6 against Netherlands at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The final is slated to be played at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19. Inzamam will head a selection committee that also includes Mickey Arthur, Grant Bradburn and also a secretary Hasan Cheema, who is dealing with data analysts for the Pakistan team. No other former Pakistan player was named on the committee which was headed by Haroon Rasheed, who was part of the former Management Committee. Rasheed was appointed as the selection committee chief in January of this year, following the removal of Muhammad Wasim from the same role in December 2022. However, Rasheed stepped down from the position last month.

“It is an honour for me to be appointed as the chairperson of the national men’s selection committee. I am thankful to Zaka Ashraf for offering me this post. It is wonderful to see the chairman is involving former players in the cricketing matters. I have worked previously in this role and I am eager to work in it once again,” Inzamam said in a statement.

Inzamam is likely to form his own team to facilitate selection decisions. An announcement is likely to be made in this regard next week. If Arthur and Bradburn are removed from the selection process, they might not be happy as they accepted coaching positions only after getting firm assurances from previous PCB head Najam Sethi that they would have a say in selection matters. Arthur is yet to physically join the team as he has been busy with his coaching assignment with English County side Derbyshire but he is scheduled to take charge of the team in the latter part of the Asia Cup and will be available for the World Cup in India.

Zaka Ashraf said in a statement: “I am delighted that Inzamam has agreed to head our national men’s selection committee at a crucial juncture. He is a legend and has served the game with dignity. Inzamam’s last tenure brought us success as we not only won the ICC Champions Trophy, but also unearthed some outstanding talent that continues to serve Pakistan cricket to date. I have no doubt that his new innings will add to the laurels and bring more talented cricketers to light.” Inzamam has represented Pakistan in 120 Tests, 378 ODIs, and one T20I between 1992 and 2007. He is Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in international cricket, having amassed 20,541 runs across formats. Inzamam led Pakistan in 31 Test matches, winning 11 and losing 11 while nine ended in draw. He also led Pakistan in 87 ODIs with 51 wins and 33 losses while three matches ended with no result.