PCB restructures selection committee with appointment of Aleem Dar, Aaqib Javed, Azhar Ali

PCB released a statement to announce the appointment of Aleem Dar, Aaqib Javed, Azhar Ali and Hassan Cheema as the new members of the selection committee. With the recent changes, Pakistan have had 26 different selectors since 2021.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed that the following members have been added to the men's national selection committee as voting members: Aleem Dar, Aqib Javed, Azhar Ali and Hassan Cheema," PCB said in a statement.

The decision came an hour after Pakistan suffered a historic defeat by an inning and 47 runs against England in the opening Test of the three-match series. The defeat holds significance in the history of Test cricket as Pakistan became the first team to end up on the losing side after scoring over 550 in the first attempt.

Despite Pakistan scoring 556 in the first innings decorated with three tons, England with its 'Bazball' approach and powered by Joe Root's marathon double-hundred and Harry Brook's historic triple-hundred, outpowered the Pak bowlers, mounting a massive total of 823/7 (declared) and amassing a massive lead of 267 runs, which proved to be too much for Pak batters, who were bundled out at 220.

Notably, 10 days ago, Mohammad Yousuf announced his decision to step down from the selection committee citing "personal reasons."

The new selection committee will have to immediately shift its focus on chosing the squad for the upcoming two Tests against England, which will begin on next Tuesday in Multan.

Dar's appointment will certainly attract attention, considering how rare it is to see an umpire becoming a member of the selection committee.

This isn't the first time the PCB has reinstated the selection committee in 2024. After Pakistan's tenure ended dramatically in the group stage, Abdul Razzaq and Wahab Riaz were notified by the PCB that their services would no longer be required.

Abdul Razzaq was a part of the men's and women's selection committees, while Wahab was a selector of the men's team.

Wahab served as the chief selector before being reinstated as one of the seven members of the men's selection committee. The former fast bowler had also travelled with the Pakistan side to the T20 World Cup as senior team manager.

Over the last four years, the PCB has had six top selectors: Wahab, Mohammad Wasim, Shahid Afridi, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Haroon Rashid, and Misbah-ul-Haq, all of whom had brief tenures. (ANI)