PCB appoints Shahid Afridi as chief selector for New Zealand series

Former captain Shahid Afridi will head the new interim selection committee for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the latest change since the team was thrashed by England.

Ramiz Raja was removed as head of the PCB on Thursday, and a 14-member management committee took over.

Before selecting Afridi, the main committee, led by the former chairman Najam Sethi, also sacked chief selector Mohammad Wasim.

According to the PCB, former players Abdul Razzaq and Rao Iftikhar were also nominated selectors. The changes follow Pakistan’s first-ever 3-0 home whitewash by England this month.

Announcing Afridi’s appointment, PCB Management Committee chief Najam Sethi tweeted: “I welcome the interim Men’s National Selection Committee and have no doubts that, despite limited time, they will make brave and bold decisions that will help us produce a strong and competitive side in the series against New Zealand.”

“I feel honoured to have been assigned this responsibility,” said Afridi, who retired from international cricket in 2017. “We need to get back to our winning ways and I have no doubts that through meritocratic and strategic selection decisions, we will help the national side to perform.”

In a career marked by his hard-hitting batting, Afridi represented Pakistan in 27 Tests, 398 one-day matches, and 99 Twenty20 matches.

A two-match Test series between Pakistan and New Zealand is underway, with the first game taking place in Karachi on Monday.