Inzamam-ul-Haq criticized the country’s cricket body for replacing Muhammed Hafeez as Team Director due to recent bad outcomes.
Due to recent poor performance, the Pakistan cricket board removed Muhammad Hafeez from his position as Team Director. Inzamam-ul-Haq, a former captain of the team, has criticized the move, saying it is unfair to “target” former players for administrative positions when the officials refuse to take accountability for the team’s performance. Following a 1-4 T20 International series loss to New Zealand and a 0-3 Test series loss in Australia, the PCB had severed ways with Hafeez last month. After the T20 series in New Zealand, Hafeez’s initial short-term contract came to an end, as the Sports Ministry recommended against signing a long-term deal.
“Can someone explain the reasoning behind removing Muhammad Hafeez as team director but retaining Wahab Riaz as chief selector after the Australian and New Zealand tours?” Inzamam said on a television show.
“Weren’t both appointed at same time and given same responsibilities so why has only Hafeez been held accountable and not Wahab Riaz?” queried the journalist.
The former cricket great, who resigned as chief selector amid acrimony during last year’s World Cup, also asked the PCB to begin treating players with respect.
“The PCB Chairman no doubt is a highly respectable position but don’t former captains and stalwarts deserve the same amount of respect from the top board officials,” asked Inzamam, a former captain.
Inzamam claimed that during his fight with the Board over conflict of interest claims, former PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf treated him disrespectfully.
“We had a meeting set at the PCB offices when the article about my conflict of interest as chief selector surfaced.
“I was sitting with (PCB officials) Salman Naseer and Aliya Rasheed waiting for the chairman to come,” he told reporters.
“But he went to the academy and then asked Naseer and Aliya to meet him, and I was told to wait since he would not see me. Only Aliya returned after a while and informed me about the inquiry committee,” he said.
Inzamam claimed Ashraf’s attitude was insulting.
“The Chairman’s conduct hurt me. Every detail about agents and their companies that interact with players is available to the ICC and PCB, so it was not a major concern, and I told them I would leave so they could finish their investigation,” Inzamam remarked.
The former skipper claimed he was still waiting for the PCB to announce the results of the inquiry committee that investigated his conflict of interest case.
“Pakistan cricket cannot be conducted in this manner. “It is past time for board members to take responsibility for their actions,” he stated.
Inzamam also stated that he did not want to take over as chief selector before the Asia Cup last year because the previous selection committee had already chosen the squad.
