Pakistan Cricket Board adds former umpire Aleem Dar, former players Aaqib Javed, Azhar Ali in selection committee

Hyderabad: Just hours after Pakistan’s embarrassing loss to England in the first Test match at Multan, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) revamped their national selection committee.

The PCB added former elite umpire Aleem Dar, former Pakistan players Aaqib Javed, Azhar Ali and data analyst Hasan Cheema to the national selection committee. This is the first time a former elite international umpire is being included in the selection panel.

England beat Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs in the first Test at Multan prompting the immediate change in the selection panel.

Aleem Dar had recently announced his retirement from international umpiring. He was one of the long standing umpires in the International Cricket Council’s elite panel and has umpired in many big-ticket matches, including World Cups.

Aaqib Javed, who has coached many teams in the past, and was once Pakistan’s coach and has been a very strong critic of the PCB and the national team. The former umpire and cricketer will join Asad Shafiq in the Pakistan national selection committee.

The selection committee, including Muhammad Yousuf, had resigned a few days ago.

The current selection committee also has white and red ball head coaches Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie in the panel. The PCB elaborated that all the members will have voting rights too.

The national selection committee is the first that the PCB axe falls on after the team’s poor performance. The PCB has changed the selection panel many times in the last few years, with the most recent one being after Pakistan’s early exit from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

The PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi had promised a revamp of the entire PCB after the T20 World Cup exit.

The new national selection committee will pick Pakistan’s squad for the upcoming two Test matches against England and also select white-ball squads for Pakistan’s tour of Australia and South Africa.