The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) received a resignation letter from Inzamam-ul-Haq, who had been leading the national and junior men’s selection committees. PCB will now choose his successor, and a detailed timetable will be released soon.
Pakistan captain Inzamam ul Haq was appointed the chief selector of the Pakistan men’s team on August 7, 2023, and his outstanding performance in that role earned him the title of junior men’s selection committee leader the following month. The ongoing stint was the second time Inzamam was the chief selector of the Pakistan men’s team as he earlier held the post from 2016-2019.
Pakistan team’s poor performance has made it challenging for them to reach the semi-finals. This has led to criticism aimed at Captain Babar Azam and the chief selector over their choice of player for the ODI World Cup team.
On October 30, Inzamam-ul-Haq voluntarily decided to resign from his position, which allowed the PCB to impartially look into the claims of conflict of interest. The former Pakistani captain has said he will take up his role as head selector if found not guilty.
The PCB has assigned five individuals to a special team that will conduct a thorough investigation into these issues. The job assigned to this investigative team is to verify the intricacies of the claims of conflicts of interest in the sports club selection procedure.
The local media has reported that Talha Rehmani, the agent of cricket players, owns “Yazo International Limited,” a corporation in which Inzamam is a shareholder. Rehmani represents Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi, among of the senior team’s talents, hence this affiliation has drawn criticism.
Earlier it was reported that the Pakistan Cricket Board would have to pay him a substantial amount of PKR 15 million, or 2.5 million rupees each month over six months if the board chose to terminate his contract early.
Pakistan is currently competing in the upcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 seeking a berth in the semi-finals. On November 11, they will play their last group-stage match in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens against the reigning champions, England.
With a thrilling victory over New Zealand in their most recent match in Bangalore, Babar Azam and his squad have revived their chances of making it to the World Cup semifinals. To secure a chance to advance to the Semifinals, the Pakistani side will want to defeat the reigning champions, even if their destiny is dependent on the outcome of the match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
