An independent selection committee is the way forward for the Pakistan Cricket Board, a committee made up of 3 individuals with no axes to grind, no bias and no allegiance to any player, region or department.

By Saj Sadiq (17th August, 2012)

 

In my more pessimistic and rebellious days I had this theory that the selection committee ahead of any Pakistan squad selection would sit in a dark room at a secret location, throw some names into a hat and pick the names out of a hat. If it was your lucky day, you were picked, if your luck was not in that day, tough and better luck next time. It all seemed a bit chaotic and random, with every squad revealing a surprise or three, players coming, going, being brought back and then dropped again. Other players were given one chance, cast aside and then returned to the black hole of Pakistan domestic cricket. The merry go round seemed endless.

Some names from yesteryear that spring to mind when thinking of surprise selections include Shadab Kabir, Iqbal Sikander, Wasim Haider, Shahid Anwar, Amir Nazir. No doubt there are many others that we can all add to this list who raised eyebrows when their name was announced by the selectors.

In recent times the surprise element has somewhat reduced, with a large proportion of the squad predictable. However the surprises continue with the occasional horror selection and the debate rages with every squad that is announced. I often wonder what is the method, if any to this madness?

Chief selectors have come and gone, leg spinning magician Abdul Qadir stormed off after a disagreement with the Board, Iqbal Qasim took on the role and then subsequently resigned, former batsman Mohsin Khan was chief selector and then ended up being head coach. Khan was then cast aside by the PCB and is currently working in the media. Iqbal Qasim after his first less than successful stint as chief selector has returned. One could think why go back to a job that you previously walked away from, but that is a question only Qasim can answer.

In between, selectors have come and gone too, most notably Mohammad Ilyas, Imran Farhat's father in law whose tenure as a selector ended recently. The roller coaster ride of players has been supplemented by the continual change of personnel in the selection committee resulting in a total lack of continuity.

From the fans perspective it’s literally a case of holding your breath and waiting for the end result, like a student awaiting his or her exam results. Cross your fingers and hope for the best is usually the best way to deal with the scenario, as more often than not anything is possible. Logic quite often goes out of the window when a Pakistan cricket squad is announced.

Being on a selection committee, particularly a Pakistani cricket committee is a thankless task. It doesn’t matter which combination of players are selected there will always be those who do not agree with your choices. Sit 1000 Pakistani fans in a room and they will all have differing versions of any squad, but that is not the issue. My problem though is with the inconsistent selections, the selections that make you sit up and think what is the logic behind dropping that player or selecting that particular player.

The additional quandary for the selection committee these days is that they have to select three squads for the varying formats so there are three opportunities to make a mess of things. The latest squads announced for the upcoming series against Australia in the UAE had their fare share of surprises and again the question is that where is the logic behind some of the choices.

Is there a way forward, is there a way to eradicate the selection problem, the reality is that there isn’t an instant solution because like you and I, the selectors have their own opinions about all of the players. A player may impress you and I, but the selectors may think that he has not got the right to be selected.

There have always been fingers pointed at selectors for as long as I have followed cricket. Claims of backhanders from players being exchanged for selection, claims of politicians influencing selectors, claims of regional favouritism, claims of regional presidents paying large sums for one of their players to be chosen and even claims of a quota system in place to appease regions have always been around, but have never been proved or substantiated.

My own opinion is that the Chief selector and his committee should be totally independent of the Pakistan Cricket Board and should not be associated with any department. At the moment Iqbal Qasim is associated with National Bank and that is an easy reason for finger pointing at Qasim for alleged bias in his selections.

An independent selection committee is the way forward for the Pakistan Cricket Board, a committee made up of 3 individuals with no axes to grind, no bias and no allegiance to any player, region or department. Whilst this will not necessarily stop the debate amongst fans and media and there will still be disagreement with the choices, but at least the continual whispers of bias, corruption and favouritism will be removed.

It would be a bold but logical move in my opinion, but one that Zaka Ashraf should seriously contemplate and implement. Ashraf has not been afraid to make some bold decisions and this one that I think he needs to make. Over to you Zaka Ashraf.