LAHORE: Former Test off-spinner Tauseef Ahmed is likely to be given the job of national chief selector on temporary basis after Inzamam-ul-Haq’s resigned recently after alle­gations of conflict of interest emerged against the former Test captain prompting the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to initiate an inquiry against him.

Inzamam, who resigned last week in the wake of his alleged affiliation with a UK-based player agency for which he is facing an inquiry initiated by the PCB, a proposal to fill the vacant post of chief selector temporarily is being considered.

In this regard, Tauseef, one member of the selection committee, is most likely to be given the temporary role just for Pakistan’s three-Test Test series in Australia scheduled for coming December-January.

Dawn learnt that the five-member investigation committee, formed to investigate the affiliation of Inzamam and national team vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan with the said player agency, had to present the report to PCB Interim Management Committee chairman Zaka Ashraf by Nov 6, Monday.

However, the committee could not complete its task within the deadline and no fresh date to complete the assignment has been set.

In view of this, the PCB is considering filling the post temporarily by elevating Tauseef as chief selector till Pakistan’s tour of Australia.

“Any emergent situation could [also arise during the ongoing ICC World Cup in India, regarding the players’ selection, plus the national Test team for the tour of Australia is to be selected after a short while. A responsible individual should be at the helm to monitor the situation in order to pick the best team for the Aus­tralia tour. Keeping this entire scenario in view, the PCB is likely to assign the duty [of chief selector] to Tauseef on temporary basis,” sources told Dawn.

“The committee investigating the allegations of conflict of interest against Inzamam could not complete its work. The committee’s report was to be sub­mitted to the PCB chairman on Monday but neither the report could be finalised nor the chairman was in Lahore on Monday,” sources further said.

It may be mentioned here that Monday was the first day in office for Zaka as interim PCB chief after getting a three-month extension from caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar.

According to sources, the decision of giving temporary charge to Tauseef will be considered also because during the fresh three-month extension, the PM has not allowed Zaka to make any appointment, and he can manage only day-to-day affairs of the PCB.

In this present situation, hiring a chief selector does not seem possible.

Interestingly, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif had also given the same instructions to Zaka – not to make any appointments — when he was appointed PCB Interim Management Committee for four months on July 5 this year. Still Zaka hired a good number of employees on higher posts in the PCB.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2023