Wahab Riaz, Abdul Razzaq axed from PCB selection body

After a poor performance of the national team during the T20 World Cup, Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq have been removed from the selection committee of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), a local TV reported.

However, Mohammad Yousuf, Bilal Asif and Asad Shafiq are still member of the panel, which also includes the captain and head coach.

The sources said that the PCB management had lost trust in the duo and their opinions had not been taken into account for some time now. They added that their influence was significant in the selection of the T20 World Cup squad and they showed more support to players who did not perform well.

The PCB had reorganized the national selection committee, having equal powers in March earlier this year to bring more transparency in the process, but the team failed to deliver in all the series since then.

After the T20 World Cup poor performance, Mohsin Naqvi announced major surgery to improve the team’s performance and started consultations in this conenction.

Naqvi chaired two important meetings yesterday. First, he held meeting with white-ball coach Gary Kirsten and red-ball coach Jason Gillespie to discuss important matters. A decision, during the meeting, was taken to formulate a comprehensive plan to improve the batting, bowling and fielding of the cricket team.

Earlier, he also met over two dozen former and current players to discuss the future of cricket in the country.

The meeting began with a presentation by PCB chief Naqvi titled “Pathway to Pakistan Cricket” which explained the steps a cricketer goes through to make it to the national team.