October 09, 2008	Thursday	Shawwal 9, 1429

LAHORE, Oct 8: Chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed Sallu has resigned from his post, the same day when the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ijaz Butt assumed charge on Wednesday.

“I have sent my resignation to the new chairman as I was appointed by the previous chief Dr Nasim Ashraf and now Ijaz Butt has the right to pick his own team,” Salahuddin said.

“Under Nasim Ashraf I performed my duties freely and took every step to raise the national team, which was low in morale after failing to qualify for the second stage of the World Cup 2007. Furthermore, the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer had put a negative impact on Pakistan cricket,” he said.

But he added that during his short span, starting from April 2007, Pakistan succeeded in reaching the Twenty20 World Championship final in South Africa where they lost to India.

During Salahuddin’s tenure as chairman of selectors, Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka 2-1 in a three-match one-day series in Abu Dhabi, Pakistan lost the Test series against South Africa (at home) and India 1-0 while also losing the one-day series.

Pakistan, who also won a tri-nation tournament in Bangladesh after beating India in the final last June, however, failed to qualify for the Asia Cup final in July.

Meanwhile, Salahuddin congratulated Ijaz Butt on his appointment as the PCB chief and has expressed the hope that he will take Pakistan cricket forward in the right direction.

Salahuddin also lauded the services of Dr Nasim Ashraf and termed the ICC decision to change the result of the forfeited Oval Test into a draw as a great achievement for the former PCB chairman.

Salahuddin urged the new PCB chairman to take action against those who had tampered with the squad selected on Tuesday for the four-nation Twenty20 tournament in Canada.

He said that he had no idea who inducted Shoaib Khan into the squad in place of off-spinner Saeed Ajmal after the uncapped opener was not picked by the selectors.