Shaharyar Khan elected chairman PCB

#GNN - LAHORE: Former diplomat Shaharyar Khan was Monday elected Pakistan´s cricket chief for a three-year term, a move aimed at ending a 14-month leadership tussle which has left the governing body in disarray.

Khan, 80, becomes the 30th chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) but the only one to have a second tenure, having held the post between December 2003 to October 2006.

Khan was elected unopposed under the Board´s new constitution adopted last month in a bid to resolve the dispute triggered in May last year when then-chairman Zaka Ashraf was suspended by Islamabad High Court.

After Ashraf´s suspension, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed veteran journalist Najam Sethi as PCB head. But court orders and government decrees saw Sethi swapping power with Ashraf five times.

The Supreme Court last month ordered elections under the new constitution and named a retired judge as interim PCB chief and election commissioner.

The PCB said in a statement Khan was unanimously elected unopposed by the 10-member board of governors.

Khan, who also served as the country´s foreign secretary between 1990-94, was appointed PCB head by military ruler General Pervez Musharraf but was removed after the fiasco in the Oval Test against England in 2006. Pakistan forfeited that Test after then-skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq refused to lead the team onto the field in protest at being penalised by the umpires for ball-tampering.

Khan was blamed for not handling the matter properly. But his experience as foreign secretary was credited as being instrumental in reviving Pakistan-India ties in 1999. Then Pakistan toured India after a gap of 12 years, with Khan as team manager. (GNN)(AFP)(AIP)

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Waqar Younis returns as Pakistan head coach

“I am extremely pleased to have been selected as the head coach. My immediate aim would be to prepare the team for the upcoming busy cricket season," Younis said. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) coach hunt committee officially endorsed the decision announced by Chairperson Najam Sethi last week to hand over the reins of the national cricket team to Waqar Younis.

Sethi had told The Express Tribune in an exclusive interview published on May 2 that Younis had been given a two-year contract.

According to a PCB media release, the former Test captain, who also coached the national team during the 2011 World Cup, will join the team in June.

The release stated: “A committee constituted by PCB comprising of Mr Intikhab Alam (Director Domestic Cricket Operations), Mr Haroon Rashid (Director Game Development) and Mr Moin Khan (Chief Selector) met today to review the applications received for the position of Head Coach. The Committee unanimously recommended Waqar Younis for the position of head coach which has been endorsed by Chairman PCB.”

Younis, who played 87-Tests for Pakistan in a career spanning 14 years, expressed his pleasure at the announcement.

“I am extremely pleased to have been selected as the head coach. My immediate aim would be to prepare the team for the upcoming busy cricket season including the next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand,” he said.

Younis is currently in India on an assignment connected to the on-going Indian Premier League (IPL).

Before taking over as the head coach in 2010, Younis had worked as bowling coach for Pakistan on short stints.

First tenure a mixed bag
The former PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt appointed him the coach before the Asia Cup following the ignominious tour of Australia, where the Pakistan team led by Mohammad Yousuf lost all nine international matches (three Tests, five ODIs, and one T20).

After failing to make it to the finals of the Asia Cup, Pakistan embarked on a gruelling tour of England where all hell broke loose (spot fixing scandal involving Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir).

The young team did end a 16-year losing streak against Australia by beating them in a thrilling Test match in Leeds, England, though won the Test series 3-1 before winning the hotly contested ODI series 3-2.

During his tenure, Pakistan won a Test and an ODI series against New Zealand before the World Cup, in their own conditions after narrowly losing an absorbing series against South Africa in the UAE.

The men in green also made it to the semi-finals of the premier event before bowing out to eventual champions India in Mohali.

Waqar and his team squared a Test series with West Indies in the own backyard besides winning the ODI series, however he developed serious differences with captain Shahid Afridi during the tour which led to Afridi’s sacking.

Younis also left the job after the tour of Zimbabwe a few months later, citing ill-health as the reason.
The duo claim to have moved on from the clash and are hoping to deliver for the national team again, chief selector and manager Moin Khan was also reportedly in favour of Younis’s appointment as head coach and has vowed to work with the fast bowling legend for the betterment of the team.

PCB adds four players in summer camp

Amin was part of the team in the limited over formats for the most part of 2013, unfortunately, he failed to make an impression. PHOTO: REUTERS

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday inducted four more players for the summer camp in Lahore after announcing 36 names last week.

The players invited to the camp are left-handed batsman Umar Amin, fast-bowler Aizaz Cheema, Pakistan U19 captain Sami Aslam and young batsman Babar Azam.

Amin was part of the team in the limited-over formats for most part of 2013; he featured in the Champions Trophy, the tour of the West Indies, Zimbabwe, South Africa and the home series against the Proteas and Sri Lanka in the UAE.

Unfortunately, he failed to make an impression and was dropped from the squad that played the ODIs against Sri Lanka last December.

The other inclusion, Cheema, has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit and last represented the national team in the 2012 ODI series against Australia in the UAE.

Meanwhile, Aslam led the U19 team to the final of the junior World Cup where his team lost to South Africa and Azam is touted as one of the best batting talents in the country who has made a name for himself in the limited-over formats.

The quartet will begin training with the rest of the probables from Tuesday in a month-long camp set to take place at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore.

The 40 players have been divided into two groups; PCB Panthers and PCB Tigers. According to a media release, the two groups will be involved in different training routines.

One group will undertake the physical workout and gym sessions while the second will simultaneously hold practice sessions.

The first round will be held from at 7:00-9:00am, while the second session is scheduled from 4:30-6:30pm.

Published in GNN & Tribune & our-correspondent, May 6th, 2014.