Ex-Pakistan cricketer MOCKS PCB for turning cricket into politics
Table of Contents
Pakistani national selectors announced in the press conference that they would return to the standpoint where the selection committee could make suggestions for the Playing XI to the national coach, which gave them success in Tests during Jason Gillespie's stint as Pakistan's head coach.
After the Pakistan national team left for the Bangladesh tour, the PCB selectors panel addressed the press on Saturday, which seemed an awkward move, since such conferences are usually held during team announcements.
The selectors Aaqib Javed, Sarfaraz Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, and Asad Shafiq were all in the press conference, which took place in Lahore on Saturday. However, the usefulness of the meeting remained a mystery till the very end.
I saw press conferences in politics; in cricket, like this, I saw for the first time- Junaid Khan
After the sudden press conference, many associated names with Pakistani cricket also looked confused about its benefit. Out-of-favour International speedster, Junaid Khan, has also opined on this matter and claimed that he had seen such things in politics, but in cricket, this is the first time ever.
"I saw press conferences in politics before, during the situation, but in cricket, this is the first time I have seen such a press conference taking place in between the series. When the teams were being announced, no such thing took place," said the former Pakistan pacer.
“I saw press conference in politics, in cricket like this I saw for the first time. The only good thing in the press conference was Asad Shafiq, because he didn’t say anything,” Junaid Khan on selectors’ presser#TOKSports #JunaidKhan #PCB #PakistanCricket pic.twitter.com/iSd3PNzygH
— TOK Sports (@TOKSports021) March 15, 2026
The selectors dismissed a query that claimed that coach Mike Hesson was forced to have some names in the playing XI for the T20 World Cup, and Javed and co. claimed that they have informed the PCB to reform the selection process for the national team after the team returns from the Bangladesh tour.
What was the objective of this press conference?- Junaid Khan
Junaid Khan also went on to question the overall sense of this press conference. To him, it seemed that the one-hour-long session was all talk, but none of it made any sense in actual life.
"Overall, the entire press conference, which went on for, like, 1 hour, did not make any sense to me. What they meant, what the agenda was behind the press conference or what was concluded at the end of the conference—nothing seemed clear to me," he said.
He then mocked the Selectors panel for taking away all the credit for the goods in Pakistan cricket and not taking responsibility for the things when they went wrong, like in the ICC T20 World Cup.
"At first, they said Jason Gillespie was informed that the selectors would also be giving him some inputs to formulate the playing XI, and then we had won Tests against England (Tests) and Australia (ODIs).
"However, then they said that for the World Cup, we (selectors) gave them 20-22 players, and the coach and captain went on to pick the final 15 men for the squad and also the Playing XI. So I have this doubt that when they won, the input was from the selectors, but when they lost, it was blamed on the coach and the captain," he observed.
I felt bad for Asad Shafiq- the Pakistani cricketer felt his former teammate could be more useful in the conference
He had earlier mocked Asad Shafiq at the start of the video, claiming that he liked him the most in the conference, and the reason for that was that he didn't utter a single word. However, he later claimed that he felt bad for Asad Shafiq.
"Asad Shafiq is a known name in Pakistan cricket. I have known him since that series in Zimbabwe and Kenya, where I was featured after coming in from U-19s, and he had come in from domestics. Believe me, I have not seen such a polite man in my entire life," Junaid praised his former teammate.
"If you brought him to that hour-long press conference, then I thought it would have been ideal to take some input from him on middle-order batting. He himself was a middle-order batsman, and our team struggles with the middle-order batting," he added.
ALSO READ: Who replaces Ajinkya Rahane if he quits KKR captaincy in IPL 2026?\
Tagged:
Pakistan National Cricket Team Junaid Khan PCB Asad Shafiq Misbah-ul-Haq Aaqib Javed Sarfraz Ahmed Mike Hesson Salman Ali Agha Pakistan Cricket BoardAbout the Author
This author is a member of Cricketaddictor who writes news and analysis related to cricket.
