Lahore: Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq on Thursday rubbished allegations of favouring certain Pakistan players and forcing other selectors to toe the line in the T20 World Cup. Both the former Test cricketers, Wahab and Razzaq, were on Wednesday sacked as selectors by the Pakistan Cricket Board.
The decision to remove Wahab came as a surprise since he is perceived to be very close to the incumbent PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi. Wahab had also worked as an advisor on sports with wide ranging powers in the caretaker government in Punjab ran by Naqvi, until the elections were held earlier this year.
Since last year, Wahab has also worked in the PCB in various roles such as the chief selector and senior team manager. Shortly after Wahab and Razzaq were axed, it was alleged that the former, in capacity of senior team manager, had ignored uncooperative and bad behaviour from pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi in the T20 World Cup.
Wahab and Razzaq were also alleged to have insisted on selecting some players who were not in form or fully fit. Wahab said in a statement, "To make collaborative decisions as part of the seven-man panel to select the national team was a privilege everyone's vote carries equal weight, we made selection decisions as a team and shared the responsibility of that process equally," said Wahab in a statement.
"I don't want to be in any blame game. But I don't agree with claims that I put pressure on other members of the selection committee. How is it possible that one vote prevailed over six others, said Wahab, adding that everything is documented on record in the minutes of the meeting'.
Razzaq said the selectors took collective decisions which were determined by the majority votes. So how can I sway the other selectors while selecting the team? he said.
The PCB had appointed a seven-member selection committee in March without a chief selector in place, soon after Naqvi took over as chairman. The committee also included former cricketers such as Mohammad Yousuf and Asad Shafiq, Wahab, Razzaq along with the head coach, captain and data analyst Bilal Afzal.
The board's analyst Hasan Cheema and director of international cricket operations Usman Wahla also attended selection committee meetings.
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