The seven-member PCB selection committee is likely to undergo changes in the wake of Pakistan’s dismal T20 World Cup campaign. While the PCB will undertake a review to assess what went wrong for Pakistan, it is understood streamlining the operations of the selection committee is a top priority for the board. ESPNcricinfo understands the number of people on the selection committee will be reduced, with the PCB also considering ditching its brief experiment of having a selection committee without an official head or chief.
Wahab, though, is not expected to regain his position as the head of the committee, should the post be recreated. ESPNcricinfo understands there is frustration at the PCB, including from Wahab himself, about public perception that he runs the selection committee as its de facto head, and consequently shoulders the brunt of any criticism. Wahab’s departure from the committee altogether remains a very strong possibility, with Naqvi keen to publicly demonstrate no one is immune from adverse consequences.
If no decision is publicly communicated by that time, indications of any further changes to the national set-up may lie in the revisions made to players’ central contracts when they expire on June 30. Though the PCB and the players agreed to three-year contracts in a landmark decision last year, that only applies to the overarching terms of the contract. Individual players can be moved up and down in categories – or left out altogether – depending on their performances. At the moment, there are three players in the highest category: Babar, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
