Lahore (Web Desk): The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday removed Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq from the selection committee of the body for both men an women’s teams.
Confirming the sacking, the PCB in a statement said, “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.”
Wahab Riaz, a former chief selector, was placed on the seven-member selection committee under PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi and was considered de facto head of the selection committee. Abdul Razzaq was member of both the Men’s and Women’s selection committee.
Riaz will also cease to exist as the senior manager for Men’s cricket – a role which was assigned to him during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
Wahab and Razzaq are the first casualties of team’s poor show at the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the US.
The decision has come after PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi’s consultative meetings with former cricketers and seeking their advice on team development.
The PCB is likely to reconstitute the national Men’s selection committee with a chief selector.
Earlier, Naqvi had promised major changes in the wake of the team’s disappointing performances at the World Cup.
“I thought the team required minor surgery to start winning matches but now it appears that we have to go for major surgery,” the PCB chief was quoted as saying by the Pakistani media in New York 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,” Naqvi had said.