Pakistan face a premature exit in the T20 World Cup 2024. They showed below-par performances in every department of the game as both batters and bowlers failed to make a mark barring Naseem Shah.
Pakistan lost to the debutants and co-host of the tournament, USA. It was such a shocking loss that garnered criticism and only criticism for the team. And in the next over, Pakistan failed to achieve a total of 120 against India, a pitch and total, tailor-made for the opening pair, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam.
Nevertheless, Pakistan collected a victory against Canada and Ireland but of course the points and performances weren’t enough to push the team to the Super Eight when the likes of USA, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan made their way to the next stage of the tournament.
Following the poor show, the current chairman of the PCB, Mohsin Naqvi, had said that this team needs a “surgery”
Although we are not sure what will be the future of this team, the fallout of the Pakistan team from the T20 World Cup claimed its first victims, with Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq both sacked as selectors from the national side.
Razzaq was appointed for this role just a few weeks ago and he was removed from the role, altogether, as he won’t be served as a women team selector as well.
It was evident that the jobs of the selectors were in danger. Wahab Riaz earlier was removed from the chief selector post, still remained as the selectors and travelled with the team and if anything, he just faced criticism.
In the coming days it is expected that a chief selector will be appointed, and the length of the committee member will be shortened and it is highly unlikely that Wahab and Razzaq will be replaced by anyone, as there are still a lot of people in the selection committee.
Wahab’s removal marks a swift decline in influence of someone who was considered a close friend of the chairman, Mohsin Naqvi. Their connection goes back to the time when Wahab served as a sports minister under Naqvi’s chief ministership in Punjab.
This bond led to the selection of Wahab as a chief selector of the team and later as a manager as he accompanied the team to the T20 World Cup, a role he’ll likely lose as well. However, Naqvi seems determined to show that everyone is accountable, regardless of their position.
The decision if anything describes how uncertain and messed up the things are in the PCB. In recent times, PCB has seen six chief selectors, with Wahab, Haroon Rashid, Shahid Afridi, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Wasim and Misbah-ul-Haq all serving brief stints.
The remaining five selection committee members are coaches and captains of the respective formats. Besides them, Mohammad Yousaf, Asad Shafiq, and Bilal Afzal, a data analyst, still have their jobs.
Babar Azam was reported to be Pakistan’s captain until 2025 as said by Kamran Akmal back then, it remains to be seen if he’ll be given another chance after the insulting performance in the T20 World Cup, 2024.
