Inzamam quits as Pakistan selector

PAKISTAN’S chief of selectors, Inzamam-ul-Haq, resigned on Monday (30) over allegations of a conflict of interest linked to the team’s poor performance at the World Cup in India.

Inzamam is reportedly accused of holding a position in a company that has contracted several Pakistan players for marketing and commercial promotions. The former captain said he was ready to face any inquiry from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

“I am heartbroken at these allegations of a conflict of interest and if the PCB holds an inquiry I am ready to face that,” Inzamam told a local TV channel.

The media in Pakistan alleged the company involved has influenced the selection process of the underperforming team.

Pakistan are on the verge of crashing out of the ongoing World Cup in India, having lost four of their seven matches. Though they beat Bangladesh in Kolkata on Tuesday (31), they need to win their remaining two matches and hope other results go in their favour in order to reach the semi-finals.

Inzamam played 120 Tests, 386 ODIs and a single T20I in an international career between 1991 to 2007, and was part of the team which won the 1992 World Cup.

His career ended when Pakistan crashed out in the first round of the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.

The PCB said it has set up a five-member committee to investigate the allegations.

This was Inzamam’s second tenure as chief selector of the national team. The first ended in acrimony after the 2019 World Cup, where Pakistan failed to qualify for the semi-finals.