'Nobody has approached me for the role of chief selector' - Shoaib Akhtar reckons Pakistan Cricket needs change in mindset

Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar is known for putting forth his expert opinion on various matters in cricket. He also keeps appearing on his Youtube channel, where he talks about relevant cricket matters going around the world. Akhtar has now opined that a person who has the same mindset as him should be in charge of the national selection committee of Pakistan. He also emphasised the importance of a head coach and chief selector for the development of the team.

He stressed on the fact that he has not been approached so far for the same role and was confident enough to say that the general public wants someone like him to take up that charge. After Pakistan’s weak performance in the recently concluded Test and T20I series in England, the speedster is keen to talk about the roles of a chief selector. Pakistan lost the Test series by 1-0 and drew the three-match T20I series which ended on Tuesday.

In an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, Shoaib Akhtar said, “Nobody has approached me for the role of chief selector. Be it me or any other person, the important thing as chief selector is the change in mindset — which we desperately need. That person and the head coach need to be on the same page for the betterment of the team.”

General public wants someone like me, says Shoaib Akhtar

“But I do know that the general public wants someone who thinks like me in charge of selecting players. A person who is straightforward and demands performances from the cricketers,” he added.

Further talking about the performance of Men in Green, he said that problem lies in the defensive mindset of players for like last 15 years, and it needs to be changed. He also pointed out that Pakistan lost the Test series only because they were not upto the mark in one session.

“Pakistan lost the Test series by losing just one session, which was their batting in the second innings of the first Test. The presence of a defensive mindset, which has been there for the past 15 years, is hurting the side. The transfer of knowledge from the experienced coaching staff to the players was not visible. We have good players, but they need aggression, especially the bowlers,” Akhtar concluded.