On Sunday, there was a plethora of hot Pakistan Cricket news. Coming one after one, this news kept the cricket fans engaged throughout the day. Not only about Sunday, but the men in green fans had a lot to hear on Saturday too.
While Imad Wasim taking back his retirement made waves on the internet on the last day, pacer Mohammad Amir following his path the next day was buzzworthy. Both Amir and Imad have made themselves available for selection ahead of the T20 World Cup.
A few days back, Imad revealed that new T20I captain Shaheen Shah Afridi had asked him to reconsider his retirement decision. Imad retired last year due to a reported rift with Babar Azam, the captain back then, and the PCB management. However, since Azam is no longer at the helm, it is reported that Imad was persuaded to reconsider his decision.
Amir, who retired in December 2020 due to issues with then PCB management, also had some reported issues with Azam. However, both Imad and Amir will join forces under a new captain. While both have taken their respective retirements back, the board is also looking to decide about Shaheen’s captaincy.
Shaheen did not have a good beginning to the T20I captaincy losing to New Zealand 4-1 in his debut series as a skipper. Moreover, his horrendous stint as a captain in PSL 2024 for Lahore Qalandars has forced the board to prepare a new captain just in time ahead of the all-important World Cup.
One more piece of news that gained attention was the board restoring Haris Rauf’s contract. His central contract was terminated last month given that he denied playing Test series against Australia. It shall be noted that Haris is a limited-over cricketer and has only featured in a single Test. However, his decision did not go well with then-director Mohammad Hafeez, who took disciplinary action against the latter.
It is pertinent to mention that the PCB is now overseen by Mohsin Naqvi, who recently became the chairman, preceding Zaka Ashraf. Naqvi has announced multiple reforms on getting the role and the aforementioned news are some of them. In a presser on Sunday, he was vocal about Afridi’s captaincy and said the decision will be taken after the Kakul camp ahead of the Pak vs NZ series at home.
Furthermore, Mohsin also dismissed the Wahab Riaz-led selection committee. The newly formed selection committee for the Pakistan Cricket Team will not have a chairman anymore. He named seven members – all will be responsible equally for finalizing the squads. And the decision backed by most members will be finalized.
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