KARACHI, July 4: Just a day after picking Pakistan’s limited-overs squads for the upcoming series in the West Indies, chairman of selectors Iqbal Qasim has opted to relinquish the post he held for 16 months after replacing the then interim chief selector Mohammad Ilyas last year.
Iqbal, the former Test left-arm spinner who is employed as the executive vice-president at National Bank of Pakistan and heads its sports and CSR divisions, pointed out on Thursday that he was giving up because of personal commitments while denying the impression that the decision was based on some sort of rift with any either the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) or national team skipper Misbah-ul-Haq over selection matters.
“I have taken the decision [to relinquish] because my contract, which was extended four months ago, had already expired. The key reason for my going is that there is a lot of pending work that requires my personal attention immediately,” Iqbal told Dawn on Thursday, while dispelling the impression that he had resigned.
“I thought this is probably the best time to leave. I would like to clarify here that my tenure had expired in March but Zaka Ashraf [the suspended PCB chairman] asked me to continue until the coming tour of the West Indies tour.
“I want to dedicate more time to domestic matters that otherwise were being neglected because as a fulltime banker I was finding it increasingly difficult to handle a large portion of national team selection issues.
“But this time I requested [interim PCB chief] Najam Sethi to relieve me from the post [of chief selector] with immediate effect so that I could pay full attention to my job at the bank.”
Iqbal, who also served as chairman of selectors for a brief period in 2009-10, vehemently denied that he was quitting because of differences with board officials or the captains and the team officials.
“There could be difference of opinions as regards to the team selection during my tenure; something not new in Pakistan cricket, but as a chief selector I always gave priority to the fact that best available teams were picked on merit because I had always served cricket with honesty and devotion,” Iqbal emphasised.
“If you remember I resigned in early 2010 [after Pakistan were whitewashed by Australia in both Test and ODI series] on grounds of morality. At the time I held myself fully responsible [for those defeats] as the chief selector and I owned up the fact in clear words.
“This time the scenario is quite different. Personal commitments have forced me to take the decision now. The selectors who worked with me always gave their full support as did the board officials, the captains [Misbah and Twenty20 leader Mohammad Hafeez] and head coach Dav Whatmore whenever we got down to select the team(s).
“I would particularly like to offer my gratitude to [selection committee members] Saleem Jaffer and Azhar Khan who worked tirelessly day in and out during the domestic season and their collective inputs helped us in choosing the strongest possible squads with the consensus of all stakeholders.
“During my time [as chief selector] I had cordial relationship with the board officials. On the way we had to experience traumatic periods [the South Africa tour and the Champions Trophy being two of the major debacles] as well as some satisfying moments [winning the Asia Cup and the ODI series in India],” Iqbal noted.
“I wish the Pakistan teams we selected the other day best of luck during the West Indies tour.”