Pakistan's embattled chief selector Moin Khan, reprimanded by the cricket board for visiting a casino in New Zealand during the World Cup, has been be sacked from his position after a meeting of top officials on Saturday, a highly-placed source confirmed to DawnNews sports correspondent Emmad Hameed.
Moin, who received more flak publicly for his casino visit than his contentious team selection for the World Cup, has been offered another position in the PCB with his contract yet to expire.
PCB chairman Shahryar Khan met with former captain Wasim Bari, Salahuddin Ahmed, Azhar Khan, Haroon Rashid and Salim Jaffer during the meeting, raising speculation that Moin would be replaced by one of the men as the next chief selector.
The meeting also discussed potential candidates to take over as ODI captain after Misbah-ul-Haq's retirement from the limited-overs squad at the end of Pakistan topsy-turvy World Cup campaign. Wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed, Test batsman Azhar Ali, Mohammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz's were being touted as possible contenders for the spot. But a source present at the meeting revealed that Azhar is all set to be announced as the new skipper of the ODI side while Sarfraz would be his deputy.
The 30-year-old Azhar, who played his last ODI in 2013 but is a regular of the Test side, was recommended by coach Waqar Younis and Misbah-ul-Haq as the best choice to lead the limited-overs side.
The Lahore-born top order batsman has played 39 Tests, scoring 2851 at average of 41.31, and 14 ODIs in which he has notched up 452 runs at 41. His strike-rates of 39 and 64 in Tests and ODIs have already prompted fans to liken him to Misbah.
Moin's chapter closed
Shahryar had earlier declared "chapter closed" in the Moin 'casino controversy' after a formal apology from the chief selector but it seems the former wicketkeeper's night out has cost him much more than he bargained for.
Shahryar said the PCB investigation found nothing contrary to Moin's statement that he had visited the casino in Christchurch, New Zealand, to have dinner with friends.
The 43-year-old Moin's presence with Pakistan's World Cup squad was subject to severe criticism in the local media and it was widely being reported that former captain was 'too involved' in the selection of the playing XI.
Moin was the chief selector and manager of the Pakistan team but relinquished the latter role before the World Cup.
He had been Pakistan's head coach for two months till the end of the 2014 World T20.
No comments:
Post a Comment