PCB adds Aleem Dar, Aaqib Javed, Azhar Ali to selection committee

There has been a major recomposition of the men's selection committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board as domestic cricketer-turned-umpire Aleem Dar, former Pakistan cricketers Aaqib Javed and Azhar Ali, have been appointed as the voting members. Additionally, analyst Hassan Cheema, who was already a member of the selection committee, has been provided voting rights while the coaches will no longer have a say in the selection of the squads.

This development comes just 10 days after former Pakistan middle-order batter, Mohammad Yousuf, resigned as the chief selector citing personal reasons. The PCB has seen quite a few chaotic phases of late due to chopping and changing of personnel.

Former middle-order batter, Asad Shafiq, who represented Pakistan from 2010 to 2020, was already a member of the selection committee. Shafiq and Azhar, having scored 1,477 runs in 29 Test innings as a partnership averaging 50.93, will reunite off the field this time, and will hope on colloborating as well as they did while donning the national whites.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's unforeseen exit from the T20 World Cup 2024 in June prompted the sacking of Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq from the selection panel. Headed by the chairperson of the PCB, Mohsin Naqvi, there were no replacements announced. Yousuf's resignation at the end of September did not see a replacement too, which had left Shafiq as the only voting member other than the captains and coaches.

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Crisis appointments follow shocking defeat in Multan Test

The new engagements were supposedly made within a couple of hours post a thumping defeat faced by the team at the hands of a ruthless English outfit which outplayed them by an innings and 47 runs. What made the defeat more pronounced was the fact that Pakistan became the first side to have lost a Test match by an innings after amassing 550 on the board in their first innings.

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With the humbling loss which saw Pakistan extend their winless streak at home to seven matches out of last nine now, Pakistan slumped to the very bottom of the points table of the 2023-25 cycle of the World Test Championship. It remains to be seen how they bounce back in the remainder of the series following the appointment of the aforementioned members into the mix.