‘Major surgery’: PCB rolls sweeping reforms to boost Pakistan cricket

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, has announced a series of reforms to boost the national team’s performance.

Naqvi chaired a three-hour-long meeting with the national men’s coaching staff, members of the men’s selection committee, and senior PCB officials at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Pakistan’s white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten, red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie, PCB CEO Salman Naseer, assistant coach Azhar Mahmood, Director of International Cricket Usman Wahla, members of the selection committee Mohammad Yousuf and Asad Shafiq, Bilal Afzal, Director High-Performance Centers Nadeem Khan and Director Domestic Cricket Abdullah Khurram Niazi participated in the meeting.

Naqvi announced that esteemed coaches Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie will join the selection committee along with former Test cricketers Mohammad Yousuf and Asad Shafiq, along with current team captains from both white-ball and red-ball formats.

Every player will now undergo a rigorous fitness assessment every three months. Participation in domestic cricket has been made mandatory, with the selection committee tasked to oversee this process meticulously.

Naqvi underscored the critical importance of discipline and team unity, emphasizing that these values are non-negotiable. He sternly announced that any player found violating these principles would face strict consequences.

These decisions were taken in the wake of recent reports of star bowler Shaheen Afridi’s misconduct during the recent tours.

The reports suggest that Afridi was engaged in a heated argument with batting coach Mohammad Yousuf during the team’s tour of England ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

Sources asserted that the incident occurred during Pakistan’s net practice at Headingley when Shaheen engaged in a verbal exchange with the former batter.

Meanwhile, a technical procedure will be made to issue No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to the players for playing in the franchise leagues across the globe.

The chairman also announced the plans to upgrade the current high-performance centres as well as the training of local coaches. Moreover, high-performance centres will be built in Islamabad and Peshawar.

He also gave instructions to appoint separate coaches for Pakistan Shaheens and Under 19 cricket teams as well as organise consistent series and tournaments for these teams.