LAHORE - Former Pakistan captain Aamir Sohail was Tuesday appointed chief selector of the national cricket team and also tasked with developing the game in the country.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said the 47-year-old will act as the head of a four-man selection panel besides being the director of game development. The director role encompasses everything from grassroots to first-class cricket.
Pakistan has not had a chief selector since the Islamabad High Court (IHC) last month suspended all decisions taken by interim cricket board chief Najam Sethi, whose tenure began in July 2013. Sethi had appointed former captain and wicketkeeper Moin Khan as chief selector.
Aamir’s appointment is the first major decision by Zaka Ashraf who was reinstated as PCB chairman in January, eight months after being suspended by the court over dubious elections.
Aamir, an attacking left-handed batsman, played 47 Tests and 156 one-day internationals for Pakistan and was a major part of the World Cup winning team in 1992 said he will do his best to lift the team. This will be Aamir's second tenure as chief selector, having held the post in 2003.
"I am thankful to the PCB and especially Zaka Ashraf who reposed his confidence in me and included me in his team. Coordination, I believe, is very important and all the stakeholders should be on one page and understand each other before taking decisions. I want logic to prevail," the former cricketer stated," he told reporters here at the Gaddafi Stadium.
The PCB has retained the previous members of the selection committee, including Azhar Khan, Saleem Jaffar and Farukh Zaman who will work under Aamir Sohail. Their next task is to pick the side for the upcoming Asia Cup in Bangladesh in the last week of February. "These three are the members who have been working in the past with the coach and captain and I will need their inputs. We will be meeting in next couple of days to discuss the selection for the upcoming Asia Cup and World T20,” he added.
"Pakistan team is doing well in one-day matches and Twenty20 and I will try to further lift that as well as our showings in the Test matches," he asserted.
He backed Test and one-day captain Misbahul Haq. "Misbah has led the team well and I don't need to defend him. We have to work together and powers matter much less to me than solving problems."
He said he had spent ample time with the outgoing coach Dav Whatmore and got his inputs before chalking out his plan. "I need to see what the captain is comfortable with because I need to see the comfort levels as well and can't just impose my plan. So whatever I come up with will be after a coordinated effort," Aamir concluded.