Daily Times

LAHORE – Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shahryar Khan is expected to make some tough decisions after a special committee tasked to find the reasons behind Pakistan’s disappointing performance in the World Twenty20 tournament submits its recommendations to the country’s cricket chief.

Having started with a bang in the WT20 tournament by thrashing Bangladesh, Pakistan lost their next three games against India, New Zealand and Australia to crash out of the tournament at the first hurdle.

The country’s top cricket officials are probing into the causes behind the team’s catastrophic performance in the World Twenty20 championship and the preceding Asia Cup in Bangladesh.

The special committee appointed PCB is expected to submit to the board today its report, which will include the reasons for the team’s poor performance and recommendations for future improvement.

The PCB Chairman will decide on which recommendation to accept and implement or which to reject.

Sources said both team manager Intikhab Alam and head coach Waqar Younis, who appeared before the committee earlier this week, have blamed Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi for the team’s poor show in the two tournaments.

According to details of recommendations by the special committee obtained by Geo News, wicketkeeper batsman Sarfraz Ahmed, who earlier led the Quetta Gladiators team to the Pakistan Super League (PSL) finals, is most likely to take replace Afridi and take the slot of Pakistan’s WT20 captain.

Sources added that the contract of head coach Waqar Younis is likely not to be extended in light of the report, and that former Pakistan seamer Aqib Javed has emerged as the strongest contender for the slot of head coach.

According to reports Aqib, who is currently coaching the United Arab Emirates (UAE) team, had approached PCB officials during the PSL tournament in Dubai to offer his services as Pakistan coach.

Members of the special committee have also recommended that some players be limited to playing in the domestic cricket circuit before they prove themselves worthy of the national side. Sources said these players included batsmen Ahmed Shahzad and Umar Akmal.

In light of the recommendations, chief selector Haroon Rasheed is also likely to get the axe, with sources saying that a consensus appears to have developed over appointing Mohsin Hassan Khan to the key role of the team’s chief selector.

The PCB’s current selection committee is also likely to be dissolved in light of the recommendations, which hold the captain, coach and selection committee equally responsible for the team’s lackluster performance.

It is worth noting that the special committee does not have the powers to terminate or suspend any player or official, and that the final decision on which recommendation to accept and implement or which to reject will be taken by PCB chairman Shahryar Khan.