On Friday, December 1, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the appointment of former Pakistan cricket players Kamran Akmal, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, and Salman Butt as consultant members to head selector Wahab Riaz. With immediate effect, the three will assume their positions on the selection panel. Their first task will be to oversee Pakistan’s five-match Twenty20 International series against New Zealand, which will start on January 12 following the end of the Test series against Australia.
They will take on extra responsibilities in addition to the selecting duties, like running skill camps. Notably, Akmal was appointed chair of PCB Junior Selection Committee earlier this year. Anjum has also held selection responsibilities in the past.
In addition, the 41-year-old led an eight-person selection committee that chose regional and district teams through trials for the Under-13, Under-16, and Under-19 age groups. However, Anjum was a member of a three-person committee that was appointed as Pakistan’s interim head selector with Abdul Razzaq last year, along with Shahid Afridi.
Meanwhile, after serving a lengthy five-year ban for his role in the 2010 spot-fixing controversy, this will be the first time former captain Salman Butt assumes an official role with the PCB. During the infamous 2010 Lord’s Test, where the entire spot-fixing scandal broke, Butt was captain of Pakistan. He never again represented his country on the field.
The new hires will probably cause some controversy.
He did, however, participate in first-class cricket and received an offer from the PCB to serve as a pundit in 2020. It’s conceivable that some people would dispute the new nominations because Wahab Riaz and Kamran Akmal were also questioned over the spot-fixing incident. After the 2010 T20 World Cup, the ICC sent Akmal a notice, however the PCB later gave him the all-clear to be chosen for the Pakistan squad.
After the contentious Lord’s Test in 2010, he continued to play limited-overs cricket but did not participate in another Test match. In the wake of the scandal, Scotland Yard also questioned Riaz, but he was granted the clean sheet.
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