LAHORE: While welcoming the induction of ex-Test captain Inzamam-ul-Haq as chief selector, former batsman Salim Malik demanded that only cricketers be made head of the Pakistan Cricket Board to take the game to top level.

Talking to reporters at the Bagh-i-Jinnah ground after a match between a local club and a visiting team from Belgium here on Saturday, Salim said in the presence of Inzamam as chief selector, the teams would not be selected in round table meetings as has been happening in the past.

“Inzamam was a well known captain of his time and a fine batsman and I think no one would dare change his team,” said Malik.

He added that in the past the PCB establishment had been altering the finalised squads many times over prior to a tour or an event because no high profile cricketers were involved in team selection.

“But Inzamam would ensure a proper policy to work as an independent chief selector.”

Salim, who was recently cleared by a court of the match-fixing charges which were pinned on him by one-man judicial commission of Justice (retd) Qayyum Malik in 2000, said non-technocrats should never be appointed as head of the PCB as they don’t have a cricketing mind. “That post (PCB chief) should only be confined to cricketers,” said Malik.

“Only a cricketer as PCB chairman would be in a better position to understand the problems faced by teams and the players and will be able to resolve them amicably.”

Malik said though he wanted to apply for the post of head coach of Pakistan team, he later changed his mind because the PCB seemed inclined to hire a foreign man for the job.

“A foreign coach could not become successful with Pakistan team because of lack of communication and language problems,” said Malik.

“No foreign coach can convey his message to the cricketers properly.”

He said a coach’s job is to simply guide the players instead of trying to change their basic techniques.

It may be mentioned here that the last date to apply for the head coach is April 25.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2016