Pakistan's defeat against England prompts major PCB shake-up

The crushing defeat suffered by the Pakistan cricket team in the first Test against England has not been well received by the PCB. Playing in the first match against Pakistan in Multan, England beat the hosts by an innings and 47 runs. The team led by Shan Masood couldn't claim a hold of the match despite scoring over 500 runs in the first innings. Consequently, Pakistan became the first-ever team to lose a match despite scoring over 500 runs in the opening innings. Moreover, with this loss, Shan Masood has faced defeats in all the six matches he has played as the skipper of Pakistan. The board, meanwhile, has toppled the selection committee following the team's defeat in the first Test.

Major reshuffle in the PCB selection committee after Pakistan's defeat to England

The Pakistan Cricket Board has revamped its selection committee following the thrashing of Pakistan at the hands of England in Multan. heavy Test defeat to England at home. Just over an hour of the loss, the PCB introduced significant shuffle within the selection committee. The board announced the addition of former umpire Aleem Dar along with Aaqib Javed, and Azhar Ali to the selection panel. The newly selected members will join forces with existing members Asad Shafiq, analyst Hassan Cheema, and the team’s captain and coach Jason Gillespie. This newly expanded committee now has seven voting members.

Apart from the seven voting members, the panel also includes four non-voting members in Azhar Mahmood who is the assistant coach of the team. The other non-voting members include Bilal Afzal (advisor to the PCB chairman), Nadeem Khan (High-Performance Director), and Usman Wahla (Director of International Cricket). The change comes shortly after Mohammad Yousuf resigned from the post of the chief selector of the Pakistan Cricket Team. Effectively, no head of the selection committee has been appointed yet. The latest update marks the appointment of 26th different head of the committee since August 2021.

The newly appointed selection committee faces the immediate task of choosing the squad for the upcoming second Test in Multan, set to begin next Tuesday. Earlier in the year, the PCB restructured the selection panel under Chairman Mohsin Naqvi after Pakistan’s early exit from the T20 World Cup in June, which led to the removal of selectors Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq. The appointment of Aleem Dar as a selector has raised some eyebrows, as it's rare for umpires to take on this role. Dar, who stepped down from the ICC elite umpiring panel last year, has continued officiating in matches and recently announced his plans to retire from umpiring after this season.

In another update, recent reports suggest that the Pakistan vs England series will be the last assignment for Shan Masood as the team captain. The board is looking to sack Masood from the position who assumed the team's captaincy after Babar Azam relinquished the post. Now, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, and Salman Ali Agha are the frontrunners for the captaincy charge.