KARACHI, Sept 12: Zaheer Abbas, Pakistan’s team manager on the recent England tour, became the first casualty in the aftermath of the Oval Test fiasco when he was replaced by Talat Ali for next month’s ICC Champions Trophy in India.

Announcing the change at a press conference that followed Pakistan Cricket Board’s ad hoc committee meeting on Tuesday, chairman Shaharyar M. Khan refused to divulge reasons behind Zaheer’s ouster in favour of Talat.

All the PCB chief could say was that since Zaheer would be required to attend the two-day ICC disciplinary hearing on Sept 27-28 in London as one of the witnesses, it has been decided not to entrust him with the responsibility for now.

“I wouldn't say there is any indictment on the capability or ability of Zaheer Abbas as team manager. But we have decided to move him away from this responsibility because he is one of our witnesses at the ICC hearing and we wouldn’t like to put any extra pressure on him,” Shaharyar told the press conference.

But while the PCB chief gave his own reasons for replacing the manager, the fact is that the removal of Zaheer was widely expected after he had failed to act on that fateful fourth evening of The Oval Test on Aug 20 when Pakistan became the first side ever in history to forfeit a Test while registering their protest at the ball-tampering allegations made by umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove.

Without realizing the gravity of the situation on the day, Zaheer was seen doing little more than chatting away merrily on his cell phone while walking in and out of an emotion-filled meeting inside the Pakistan dressing-room.

The situation at The Oval demanded a strong, sensible approach from the team manager, but sadly, Zaheer was horribly found wanting on that front which culminated in the biggest cricketing crisis since the match-fixing saga six years ago.

At Tuesday’s media briefing, the PCB hierarchy adopted a safe course when the chairman requested that no questions be asked on the Oval fiasco at this point of time.

“We discussed the events of The Oval Test at length during the committee meeting. And it was unanimously agreed that it would be unwise to make comments publicly on the issue at this stage since the case was sub judice,” the PCB chairman declared.

“Let the hearing take place first and only then we will be in a position to say anything.”

The ad hoc committee reposed full confidence in Inzamam-ul-Haq and decided to retain the 36-year-old as Pakistan captain for the Champions Trophy.

Inzamam, due to appear before ICC code of conduct hearing, is charged with changing the condition of the ball (Level 2 offence) and bringing the game into disrepute (Level 3 offence).

The skipper is likely to be fined between 50 to 100 per cent of his match fee or a one Test or two-ODI ban under first charge while a ban of two to four Tests or four to eight One-day Internationals can be imposed on the other charge.

However, the PCB chairman cautioned Inzamam on making inappropriate comments on the issue and advised him not to make any further comments following the ICC warning last week.

“It’s like Inzamam shooting himself in the foot because such comments could aggravate the situation further,” he pointed out. “Mind you, the PCB had already protested the decision of Mr Hair. The match referee (Mike Procter) has received the umpires’ report about the alleged ball-tampering. However, we are not sure whether Mr Hair has used the word ‘cheating’ in it.”

When asked if Pakistan were to boycott Champions Trophy match if Hair was appointed, the former foreign secretary diplomatically answered: “As I said before, let us all wait for the hearing. Any decision regarding Mr Hair would be taken later. But our stance is clear after The Oval Test. We don’t want to have him standing in our matches from now on.”

The chairman, meanwhile, said that besides himself, Zaheer Abbas, Inzamam, Umar Gul and Danish Kaneria would also be attending the hearing as witnesses from Pakistan. “Umar Gul and Kaneria, who were bowling when the umpires inspected the ball, have been asked by our lawyers to give evidence.”

The 56-year-old Talat, a former Test opener with 10 appearances between 1972 and 1979 and who later officiated as an ICC match referee in 10 Tests and 26 One-day Internationals from 1997 to 2001, has never been assigned the manager’s job before Tuesday’s announcement despite being a strong candidate for the England tour.

Zaheer, the former captain and batting great, was first appointed manager for the Sri Lanka tour earlier this year before he was recalled for the tour of England which ultimately tarnished the 59-year-old’s man-management skills.

In between Sri Lanka and England trips, Saleem Altaf, PCB’s director cricket operations, managed the team during the one-day series against India at Abu Dhabi.