Latif refuses to take over as PCB chief selector

E-Paper | April 29, 2026

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's former test captain and wicketkeeper Rashid Latif has refused to take over as chief selector just nine days after he was supposed to join the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Latif says he doesn't want to ''come into controversy'' and will not join the PCB as chief selector.

Pakistan made an early exit from the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh when it lost to West Indies in the last group match.

Pakistan Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez, who only scored 55 runs in the World Twenty20 and took just one wicket, stepped down soon after the tournament, while short contracts of head coach Moin Khan and batting consultant Zaheer Abbas' also expired.

Latif criticised Hafeez's decision to step down and was also vocal against team's poor performance on the state owned Pakistan Television.

Local media had also speculated that Latif might also refuse to take over as chief selector.

''Today there's too much in (the) media and I would like to break my silence by announcing that I will not join PCB as chief selector,'' Latif said.

Latif, 45, scored 1,381 runs in 37 test matches and 1,709 runs in 166 one-day internationals in between 1992-2003.

Latif also served as batting coach and head coach of Afghanistan national team and had also briefly coached Pakistan wicketkeepers.

In his tweet on Tuesday, PCB chairman Najam Sethi said that Pakistan will tour World Twenty20 champions Sri Lanka in July-August before taking on Australia in a one-off Twenty20, three one-day internationals and two test matches, all in the United Arab Emirates in Oct.

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Sport

Rashid Latif reluctant to takeover as chief selector

PCB names Rashid Latif as chief selector

Muhammad Anwar

Apr 09, 2014 04:03pm

Thank you Mr. Nawaz Shareef, your decision of interference in PCB has created more problems than solution/resolutions.

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ysk

Apr 09, 2014 04:29pm

@Muhammad Anwar: I am guessing you are a PTI supporter. No one else would have this twisted logic to come to this conclusion.

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Confused

Apr 09, 2014 04:43pm

These guys talk and criticize but when given a chance to improve things run away.

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Umar

Apr 09, 2014 04:45pm

@ysk: Twisted logic ? If you don't know, PM is the Patron-in-Chief for PCB. Who else appoints / changes the PCB Chairmans do you think ?

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Ahsan

Apr 09, 2014 04:45pm

@ysk: Any you might be a Patwari...

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saeeds

Apr 09, 2014 05:05pm

It is much easy to criticize than fixing and making any effort ,typical.

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PakistanRocks

Apr 09, 2014 05:22pm

RIP Pakistan Cricket!

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Skeptic

Apr 09, 2014 05:38pm

Too much talk and not much action dude. Easier to sit out and act all holy rather to get into the dirt and clear the clogs

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Tansar

Apr 09, 2014 05:43pm

Of course, he was known as "not-listener" and doing things based on performance. How can he be a selector. What would have happened to Shoaib Malik, and other safarshi players then? And I agree to one of the commenters, RIP Pak Cricket.

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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad

Apr 09, 2014 05:49pm

Smart move by Rashid Latif but only for those who have been bestowed by God Almighty the traits and skills to know, realize, understand and analyze like a pro.

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Guest64

Apr 09, 2014 06:01pm

A Tough Cookie who knows that he will not be allowed either a free hand to do an impartial job for the better of the Country's cricket teams and being an honest first and foremost o himself and his cause , he is to be appreciated for his stance . Good job done man , By Not accepting the corruption filled task .

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Dawar Naqvi

Apr 09, 2014 06:58pm

Big Loss for Pakistan. I humbly request PCB chairman to stop Rashid Latif and accept his demands. his demands are fair and good for Pakistan cricket. We support him, he is a honest man. He showed once again he is not looking for money. For him his principals are important than money. PCB must not lose him.

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sami

Apr 09, 2014 07:03pm

What a turmoil in PCB created by politics and blame game... Srilankan cricket board was having financial difficulties also, but they simply took care of the business by winning ASIA cup and T20 World Cup. Can we do the same in next year ODI WC?

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Sheraz

Apr 09, 2014 07:25pm

When ever some thing good is going with Pakistan cricket some thing happen. Please for God sake give him a freehand to Rashid Latif and choice of his selection committee till World Cup 2015. We have already done a lot of experiences with people who are not aware of cricket and we are suffering already. I would advice Mr. Najan Sethi to please give Rashid and his choice of selection committee a freehand to work on till World Cup 2015. After that you can inject person of your choice.

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Mohammad Iqbal

Apr 09, 2014 07:29pm

Rashid Latif rightly refused to,become chief selector. Actually Najam Sethi wants Cheap selector who can do punctures as per his wish. He will ask to select some players who are about to retire and attained the age of plus forty. Or he will call any plumber or electrician from Khanewal and force Rashid to make him the opener. He may even call the driver of Nawaz Sharif and ask him to make him tour PR manager. So Rashid Latif Refused.

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Sheraz

Apr 09, 2014 07:39pm

@ysk: I don't think its any thing to to PTI or MQM. Najam Sethi is PML-N supporter and we are talking for survival of cricket but good cricket and player in Pakistan. Like in this T20 world cup better to take Misbah instead of Shoib Malik. Atleast Misbah is reliable than Shoaib. Lets give free hand to Rashid and see how it goes.

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Jamshoro

Apr 09, 2014 07:43pm

Cricket is on the way of hockey and I anticipate we will be ranked lower than Zimbabwe in next decade. People talk of abundance of cricketing talent in Pakistan, which is a false assessment . Compare the populations of countries that play cricket and you will see where we fall in our so called talent pool. What matters is management and planning. Our past teaches us the way to the future, and we are destined to be no-ones in Cricket. May be we will still excel in malakhada and kabadi as not many other countries play these sports to compete with us. May be the most watched commercial on TV in the future will be one where a scantly dressed, out of shape, hairy, and oily kabadi player sells lifeboy soap .

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talha

Apr 09, 2014 08:33pm

Good for Pak cricket. He has been speaking highly of Shoaib Malik through the T20 tournament on a local channel, and said that Malik will come good in a big match Thats enough proof of how much competence he had for this role. Young blood please in selection matters.

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optimist

Apr 09, 2014 08:51pm

I hope they don't bring back Iqbal Qasim and Zakir Khan. Moin Khan can become a selector and Waqar Younus the head coach.

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Capt C M Khan

Apr 09, 2014 09:19pm

Previously I lost respect for Younis khan when he refused Captaincy. Today I have lost respect for Rashid. Anyone who shuns RESPONSIBILITY should be ignored. Pakistan needs leaders in all fields including cricket and we are lacking them.

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Hyder

Apr 09, 2014 09:21pm

Sir, I saw Rashid Latif's brief chat on a private channel and was literally stunned about his remarks about the system being controlled by hidden hands from abroad and so on. A sportsman must stand above politics and a fighter always find his way through the hardship whereas a quitter always look for an exit. I leave it to readers to decide if Rashid is a fighter or a quitter??? Regards

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Venkat

Apr 09, 2014 11:01pm

That's a good news for Pakistani cricket and cricket loving fans. He is an absolute joker and he has no visions. I am very sure he will dig the grave of Pakistan's cricket future and nail the coffin forever. He does not deserve to be in the PCB in any form in the first place. I would be happy if Gavaskar takes over BCCI and the likes of Zaheer Abbas take over PCB for the good of cricket. I don't even know where Mr.Abbas is or whether he is ready to takeover but we need someone who takes the game into his heart and not the likes of Latif who has nothing but ego.

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aftab alam khan

Apr 10, 2014 12:30am

Now Rashid Latif being strict to the task is given the seat of chief selector to help Pakistan raising the performance of its cricketers, said Najam Sethi chairman PCB while talking to media. But Rashid has refused to take the seat reason being he does not want to remain in controversy. His statement is not in line with the wishes and expectations of Mr Sethi which is serious and needs to be sincerely looked into to know the actual facts encircling the PCB affairs.

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Mujtaba

Apr 10, 2014 12:49am

A big loss for Pakistan. Rashid is the only cricketer who is known to be sincere and hard-working.. And he knows that if he is not given a free hand it will be useless.. I know all the people who are criticising him do not even know of his work for the cricketers of Karachi and without any bias!

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alauddin

Apr 10, 2014 01:16am

CAN ANYONE ON THIS PLANET JUSTIFY SELECTION OF SHOIAB MALIK IN THE TEAM MAYBE TO AN EXTENT WE CAN UNDERSTAND KAMRAN AKMAL EVEN THOUGH HE WAS HEAVILY FLOP BUT MALIK WHAT A WASTE THAT WAS ...RASHID LATIF SHOULD BE CRUCIFIED NOT AXED FOR SELECTING PLAYERS LIKE SOHAIB MAQSOOD,KAMRAN AJKMAL,SHOAIB MALIK ,SOHAIL TANVIR AND MANY OTHERS TO FOLLOW ..HOPE PAK FANS WOULD AGREE WITH ME.

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Sajjad

Apr 10, 2014 01:28am

I am disappointed. He must've calculated that sitting outside and criticizing was far easier than getting his hands dirty and making actual difference.

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Quresh

Apr 10, 2014 01:53am

His record is Not impressive. scored 1,381 runs in 37 test matches and 1,709 runs in 166 one-day internationals in between 1992-2003. if he does not want to work so what is big deal. He is just ordinary player.

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Yusuf

Apr 10, 2014 02:33am

Bring back Misbah as Captain with full powers of chief selector of T20. I am sure if Misbah had played the Q-final against WI and scored 50, we would have won!

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Monim

Apr 10, 2014 03:54am

@alauddin: He did not select that team, he was not the chief selector and now he has refused to accept the chief selector position! right decision, though one opportunity is lost to clean the team. In case you don't know he was the first cricketer who leaked the wrong doing in Pakistan team, i.e. match fixing. but nothing was fixed except to let it continue and as a result, we lost a brilliant young cricketer (Amir). He refused the position because he does not want to be a puppet!

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Zafar

Apr 10, 2014 03:58am

I just checked my calendar and it says April 9th. With nothing happening on the International front for 3 months, what will be the role of the chief selector for the next 3 months? On top of that, the last time they tried to pick a team for something that mattered (world T20), the usual suspects were part of it with predictably disastrous results.

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Zoab Khan

Apr 10, 2014 04:05am

@ysk: Najam Sethi wants one of his own people in the selector role, overlooking Rashid Latif. What qualification did Najam Sethi have that Nawaz made him not a media director but the whole PCB head? Its absurd.

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junaid

Apr 10, 2014 06:35am

@ysk: I am not PTI supporter but I agree with Muhammad Anwar. You can not force people out job without a good reason. I think Zaka is seasoned executive and he knew what he was doing. Mr Shareef had to show his qualities as a Sharif too.

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Ahmer

Apr 10, 2014 07:13am

The honest and competent coaches and officials do not want to get involved with CORRUPT PCB.

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Umair Bhutto

Apr 10, 2014 08:06am

This is a very clever decision by Rashid Latif. PCB was never gonna let Latif make decisions freely. And the setup right now in Pakistan is very unstable. You make one wrong decision and they were gonna all gang up on him for picking up the wrong men for the job. Its better for him to just mind his own Academy to which I think he is doing justice. He must concentrate his efforts on developing a PCB-free domestic tournaments. Great decision Rashid bhai . I couldn't be more proud of you!!!

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Anonymous

Apr 10, 2014 09:36am

Salam! To those who are looking at this the wrong way round. Rashid bhai has been a phenomenal coach and mentor to many youngster in Karachi and across Pakistan. He has setup academies and programs to train our new breed of cricketers, along with managing departmental teams. Unlike political appointees, he does know a lot about the game, and how it works. He must have had a good reason to say no.

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ali Hemani

Apr 10, 2014 09:42am

@ysk: I guess you have no clue about cricket. There is no twisted logic in this. The same logic was presented in detail on Express TV yesterday night.

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rage of the sage

Apr 10, 2014 09:46am

Rashid Latif knows about the powerful lobby with the help of which some players like Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik and Sohail Tanveer somehow ensure their presence in the cricket team. I appreciate his decision. He should not have accepted this responsibility without taking full control in selecting cricketers only and only on their merit.

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logical

Apr 10, 2014 11:13am

@alauddin: Who told you that Rashid Latif made that selection. He was not even the selector yet, let alone selecting any one for the team. please get your act and facts together before you post anything! He would have become the Chief selector after the T20 WC had he signed the contract but he didn't.

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Salman

Apr 10, 2014 12:01pm

@Confused: No point of being a poppet mate.

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Ahmad Adnan

Apr 10, 2014 12:41pm

Nobody wants to get their hands dirty. We all love to stand at the edge of the circle and criticize each and everything. Taking actions to solve a problem is now a myth in this country. In my opinion, Rashid should have taken the responsibility. In that way he was more able to point out the wrongs.

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Singh

Apr 11, 2014 08:43pm

haha .. all your comments stink and show the true nature of Pakistanis who are suffering from hate , jealousy , inferiority complex ,political, social and religious demise.... AND THEN YOU BLAM YOUR CRICKET TEAM.. HAHAHAH

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Mohammed Abid

Apr 11, 2014 10:09pm

I like to know why Rashid Latif refuse to take over as PCB chief selector? There must be a reason for it. We need to know that. I am sure just like any individual/ interested party, Rashid must be keen for Pakistan to do so well in up coming cricket matches, and we have no doubts in his training of Afghanistan's cricket team. They game as a new team was respectable in recent 20- twenty matches.

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