Pakistan cricket is under a lot of scrutiny in recent times due to their performances. The team first displayed a disappointing performance in the T20 World Cup and also lost the first Test of a bilateral series against Bangladesh. Amidst all the criticism, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi has made a bizarre claim saying that 80 % of the players will be selected via Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the upcoming Champions Cup.
After their recent loss against Bangladesh, the Pakistan national team and PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi have come under scrutiny for not dropping the non-performing players from the squad.
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi's press conference at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore 🏏#𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 pic.twitter.com/YQOUNcEPlg
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 26, 2024
Responding to the flak faced by him, Naqvi has stated that a pool of 150 players will be selected for the Champions Cup - a domestic tournament in the country and 80 % of them will be picked through AI. He also added that there is a lack of data associated with the domestic players in Pakistan.
"We had a lot of players for which we didn't have records. This Cup (Champions Cup) will make domestic cricket strong, we'll have a pool of 150 players, and then the surgery we need to be done, the selection committee will do. People said 'do it all today, slit the throats of four-five players, and get rid of them'. You can't dump someone unless you have a better one to replace them," Naqvi said.
"Of these 150 players that have been selected, 80% of it has been done by AI (Artificial intelligence), and 20% using humans. Nobody can challenge that. We gave about 20% weightage to our selection committee. If we replace a player with a worse one, you'll be the first to complain. We'll have records and we'll all be able to see transparently who deserves a place in the team.”
Earlier, PCB named five of the top cricketers in the country as the mentors of the teams in the Champions Cup. Misbah-ul-Haq, Saqlain Mushtaq, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shoaib Malik and Waqar Younis were declared as the mentors of the teams participating in the tournament.
