PCB reinstates Basit Ali as Chairman of national junior selection committee

On January 2nd, PCB chief Shahryar Khan removed Basit from both his official assignments after he was involved in a brawl with former international batsman, Mahmood Hamid.

Karachi: Just two weeks after sacking former Test batsman, Basit Ali as Chairman of the national junior selection committee and head coach of the national women’s team, the Pakistan cricket board (PCB) has again restored him as chief junior selector. On January 2nd, PCB chief Shahryar Khan removed Basit from both his official assignments after he was involved in a brawl with former international batsman, Mahmood Hamid at the national stadium. According to Hamid, Basit had slapped him for criticising him on a television talk show. Shaharyar later said in a press release that Basit had been penalized for misconduct and insisted that the board would never condone or accept any physical altercation from anyone including its employees.

But interestingly just two weeks after that statement the PCB has had a change of heart and Basit is back to head the national junior selection committee, again highlighting the indecisiveness and politics that run deep in Pakistan cricket. Basit, 46, who played 19 Tests and 50 one-day internationals, had also accompanied the Pakistan A team as head coach to England last summer. Meanwhile, the PCB remains hopeful of hosting international cricket soon despite a decision by Cricket West Indies (CWI) to pass on an offer of a two-game Twenty20 International series in Lahore, reported IANS.

Pakistan has not hosted a major cricketing nation since 2009 because of terrorist attacks and had hoped the West Indies would have accepted the invitation for the two games in March, in return for the Asian side playing a similar series in Florida, United States later that month, reports CMC.

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