LAHORE: News that former Test captain Inzamam-ul-Haq will be appointed as chief selector received overwhelming response from several noted ex-Test cricketers, though official announcement in this regard is yet to be made.

ICC president and former Test captain Zaheer Abbas apart from former Test batsman Mohammad Yousuf and discarded Test spinner Saeed Ajmal hailed Pakistan Cricket Board’s decision to appoint Inzamam as chief selector.

The ICC president said that it was a good decision as Inzamam’s vast experience would help the PCB in raising a formidable team in future.

He said that Pakistan cricket could only be brought back on track by making serious efforts, adding that selection affairs were central to the game development which, he said, will be best managed by the new chief selector through meritorious decisions.

When asked his name as a candidate for the post of PCB chairman was doing the rounds, Zaheer said he had no such information.

However, he was quick to dispel the impression that his job in the ICC may create hurdle to his appointment as PCB chairman, citing example of the ICC chairman Shashank Manohar who is also heading the BCCI.

Though administrative changes in the PCB are on the cards after the national team suffered a series of failures with names of former Test batman Majid Khan and Zaheer being cropped up for the post of PCB chairman, high-ups in the Board are not taking serious such speculations, for they believe Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as patron-in-chief has no power, according to the PCB constitution, to remove the PCB chairman unless any financial corruption scam comes to the fore.

On the other hand, former middle-order batsman Yousuf, who is most likely to act as a member of the national selection committee under Inzamam, also hailed the PCB decision of appointing Inzamam as chief selector, stating that Inzamam was a good choice for the said post.

The former Test batsman said that if Pakistan wants to build a strong team, the system should be rectified at all costs.

Off-spinner Ajmal also termed Inzamam’s appointment a good choice for the said position, saying that only corrective measures like appointment of Inzamam could help Pakistan cricket regain its glory.

Also, there are reports that the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has relieved Inzamam as coach of the Afghan national team. Though the ACB was not ready to accept PCB request for relieving Inzamam, whose contract is going to expire in November this year, it was Inzamam who told the ACB he would like to prefer national duty.

It is instructive to note that selection committee members are likely to be announced by Tuesday with both the PCB and the new chief selector to decide names of other members.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2016