Pakistan look to appoint paid selectors

PCB want Wasim Bari as full-time paid selector © Getty Images

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to release Wasim Bari, the current chairman of selectors, for a two-year period to work as a full-time, paid national selector. The request comes in the light of the recent decision by the board's ad-hoc committee to have a national selection committee comprising full-time professional selectors.

Shaharyar Khan, the PCB's chairman, told reporters a letter had been sent to PIA. "We have decided to have a paid national selection committee soon. But it is wrong to give the impression that the current selection committee headed by Bari and including Iqbal Qasim and Ehteshamuddin is going to be sacked.

"The selectors have done a good job and we are giving them the choice to continue to work as paid selectors. This is why we have written to PIA asking them if they can release Bari for a two-year period to work as a paid selector on a full-time basis." Shaharyar did, however, make it clear that if PIA didn't release Bari then obviously the board would have to look for other candidates to form the new-look selection committee.

Bari has been involved in various capacities on the selection committee for seven years and is employed presently as director administration in PIA. The seniority of his position and the responsibilities it carries has often left him open to the criticism that he hasn't been able to devote enough time to his selection role. This has been the reason behind the board's decision to appoint full-time selectors.

In case the proposed arrangement with Bari doesn't work out, sources close to the board reveal that former Test players Zaheer Abbas and Talat Ali will be in the fray to head the selection committee.