PCB sacks selectors Wahab Riaz, Abdul Razzaq after dismal World Cup

By Special Correspondent

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday sacked selectors Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq following the team’s disappointing T20 World Cup campaign last month. The 2009 champions lost to tournament debutants and co-hosts United States before crashing out in the group stage of the 20-team tournament. “The Pakistan Cricket Board … has notified Abdul Razzaq and Wahab Riaz that their services will no longer be required in the national selection committee setup,” the PCB said in a statement. Razzaq was a member of both the men’s and women’s selection committee. Wahab remained the face of the men’s seven-member selection committee even after he was removed as panel chief earlier this year. PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi had promised major changes in the wake of the team’s performances at the World Cup. Following the team’s six-run loss against arch-rivals India in the T20 World Cup last month, he came down heavily on the team management and said the Babar Azam-led side requires “major surgery”. “I thought the team required minor surgery to start winning matches but now it appears that we have to go for major surgery,” Mohsin said at the time. Mohsin had also felt that it was time to start looking at players who have been sitting outside the team for some time now. “It is very disappointing the way we lost to the USA and now this loss to India. We need to now start looking at players beyond those in the team right now,” he had said.

As reported earlier, the nature of the selection committee is also likely to be reconstituted, with a chief selector eventually expected to be reappointed. The numerical strength of the panel is expected to be reduced, making it unlikely that Wahab and Razzaq will be replaced to make up the numbers. Wahab’s departure is a speedy fall from grace for a man viewed as extremely close to PCB chairman Mohsin. Wahab had served in his cabinet as caretaker sports minister while Naqvi was appointed caretaker chief minister of Punjab, and followed him to the PCB, where he was initially appointed chief selector. Wahab had also travelled with the Pakistan side to the T20 World Cup as senior team manager, another duty he is likely to be stripped of. Naqvi, for his part, is understood to have been keen to demonstrate no one was immune from adverse consequences. It also indicates a continuation of the instability that has plagued the selection committee over recent years. The PCB has seen five chief selectors since January 2022, with Wahab, Haroon Rashid (twice), Shahid Afridi and Inzamam-ul-Haq all serving brief stints; Mohammad Wasim and Misbah-ul-Haq also served stints in the preceding period. The remaining five selection committee members are the head coach and captain of the respective formats, Mohammad Yousuf, Asad Shafiq and Bilal Afzal.