Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has sacked Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq from the senior national selection committee.
The decision was made after Pakistan’s underwhelming run at the T20 World Cup held in the West Indies and the USA. Pakistan finished third in a group that were topped by India and hosts United States. The Babar Azam-led side lost to India after being stunned by the USA in a Super Over defeat.
While Razzaq served in both the men’s and women’s national selection setup, Wahab served as the chief selector for the men’s side before being reduced to a member of the seven-member committee a few months ago. The committee has not had a chief selector in this period.
According to an International Cricket Council (ICC) statement, “Pakistan have further confirmed the restructuring of the selection committee with details on its composition to be soon announced.”
Wahab, who appeared in three World Cups for Pakistan, also served as the senior team manager during the recent T20 World Cup tour to the Americas. Since 2020, the PCB has had six high-profile selectors with Wahab, Mohammad Wasim, Shahid Afridi, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Haroon Rashid, and Misbah-ul-Haq in varying and brief tenures.
The remaining five selection committee members of the current set-up are the head coach (Gary Kisten for ODIs and T20Is; Jason Gillespie for Tests), captain Babar Azam, Mohammad Yousuf, Asad Shafiq and data analyst Bilal Afzal.
Pakistan are next slated to host Bangladesh for a two-match Test series starting August. They will also host England for three Tests before embarking on limited-overs tours to Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa later this year.
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