Captain, coach removed as Pak cricket selection committee shrinks to five members

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have once again made changes to the men's national selection committee, reducing its size from seven members to five.

This restructuring sees the removal of the national team captain and head coach, alongside four non-voting members who previously held key positions.

These non-voting members included assistant coach Azhar Mahmood, chairman advisor Bilal Afzal, director of the High-Performance Center Nadeem Khan, and director of international operations Usman Wahla.

Full authority to selectors

The updated selection committee, now reflected on the PCB's official website, consists of Aqib Javed, Azhar Ali, Aleem Dar, Asad Shafiq, and data analyst Hassan Cheema.

Despite the captain and head coach no longer being part of the committee, they will still be consulted before the final squad and playing XI are announced. This consultation process ensures that the skipper and coach have some input, even though their official voting rights have been revoked.

The PCB's decision to streamline the committee gives complete control to the new selectors, making them fully responsible for choosing the playing eleven.

Constant changes

In recent months, the selection committee has undergone multiple revisions. In March, a seven-member committee was formed, which included Wahab Riaz, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Yousuf, Asad Shafiq, the captain, the head coach, and data analyst Bilal Afzal.

However, following Pakistan's early exit from the T20 World Cup in the United States, where they failed to progress beyond the group stage, Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq were removed from their roles. Last month, Mohammad Yousuf also stepped down for personal reasons.

Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Yousuf, and Wahab Riaz during a press conference in Lahore.PCB

Following Pakistan’s heavy defeat to England by an innings and 47 runs in the first Test in Multan, the PCB made further adjustments to the committee.

Aqib Javed, Azhar Ali, and former ICC elite panel umpire Aleem Dar were brought in to handle the crucial task of selecting the squad for the second Test, which is also being played in Multan.

According to media reports, Test coach Jason Gillespie and Test captain Shan Masood, were not consulted when the new selectors decided to rest key players like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Sarfaraz Ahmed for the remainder of the series against England.

The newly appointed selectors opted for an aggressive approach by including three specialist spinners — Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, and Zahid Mahmood — in the squad for the ongoing second Test. This strategy seems to have been successful, as Sajid Khan and Noman Ali claimed all ten wickets in England’s first innings, bowling the visitors out for 291 and giving Pakistan a 75-run lead.

Although the decision to rest key players and rely on spinners appears to have worked, removing the voting rights of the captain and coach in selecting the playing XI may cause unease. Since it is ultimately the captain’s responsibility to lead the team and execute strategies on the field, their exclusion from the final decision-making process could lead to tensions within the team management.