It is highly probable that Mohammad Hafeez, the former captain of Pakistan, will assume the role of the new chief selector for the men’s senior cricket team once the ongoing tour of Sri Lanka is finished. Currently, Pakistan is leading 1-0 in the Test series, having emerged victorious in the first match in Galle.
Mohammad Hafeez is on the verge of becoming the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s Cricket Management Committee (CMC). His closeness to Zaka Ashraf, the current CMC head, and his presence at the Asia Cup 2023 trophy unveiling event a few days ago, indicate his growing prominence in the role.
The position of chief selector has been vacant since the previous CMC was dissolved in June. Zaka Ashraf recently held discussions with former captain Rashid Latif and Mohammad Hafeez about potentially taking on the role of chief selector. While Rashid Latif showed disinterest in the job, Hafeez has expressed his willingness and availability to assume the position.
“Rashid was more interested in working on anti-corruption issues. Hafeez who played 55 Tests, 218 ODIs and 119 T20Is for Pakistan before retiring last year, made it clear that he would like the challenge of working as the chief selector,” the source added.
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During the tenure of the previous Cricket Management Committee (CMC) led by Najam Sethi, Haroon Rashid served as the chairman of the national selection committee. This committee also included team director Mickey Arthur and head coach Grant Bradburn.
However, since the previous CMC has been dissolved, Haroon Rashid is no longer the head of the selection committee in a technical sense.
Mohammad Hafeez, on the other hand, boasts an impressive cricketing career. He represented Pakistan in 55 Test matches, 218 One-Day Internationals (ODIs), and 119 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is), scoring 3652, 6614, and 2514 runs respectively. Additionally, Hafeez proved to be a valuable all-rounder, taking 53 wickets in Tests, 139 wickets in ODIs, and 61 wickets in T20Is.