The Pakistani national selectors announced in the press conference that they would be returning to the approach where the selection committee could make suggestions for the playing XI to the national coach, which had brought them Test success during Jason Gillespie’s tenure as Pakistan head coach.
After the Pakistan national team left for the Bangladesh tour, the PCB selectors’ panel addressed the press on Saturday, which seemed an odd move as such conferences are usually held during team announcements.
Selectors Aaqib Javed, Sarfaraz Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq were all present at the press conference held in Lahore on Saturday. However, the usefulness of the meeting remained a mystery till the end.
I saw press conferences in politics; I saw this for the first time in cricket- Junaid Khan
After the sudden press conference, many names associated with Pakistani cricket also appeared confused about its benefits. International fast bowler Junaid Khan has also expressed his opinion on this matter and claimed that he has seen such things in politics, but this is the first time in cricket.
The former Pakistan fast bowler said, “I have seen press conferences in politics during situations before, but in cricket, this is the first time I have seen such a press conference happening in the middle of a series. When the teams were being announced, no such thing happened.”
On the selectors’ press conference, Junaid Khan said, “I have seen a press conference in politics, I have seen this for the first time in cricket. The only good thing in the press conference was Asad Shafiq, because he did not say anything.”#TOKSports #junaidkhan #pcb #PakistanCricket pic.twitter.com/iSd3PNzygH
– TOK Sports (@TOKSports021) 15 March 2026
The selectors have dismissed questions over claims that coach Mike Hesson was forced to name certain names in the final eleven for the T20 World Cup and pressure was put on Javed and Co. Claimed that he has informed the PCB to improve the selection process for the national team after the team returns from the Bangladesh tour.
What was the purpose of this press conference?- Junaid Khan
Junaid Khan also questioned the overall spirit of this press conference. It seemed to them that the hour-long session was just talking, but in real life it meant nothing.
He said, “Overall, the entire press conference, which lasted for about an hour, made no sense to me. What he meant, what was the agenda behind the press conference or what was the conclusion at the end of the conference – nothing seemed clear to me.”
He then mocked the panel of selectors for taking away all the credit for good performances in Pakistan cricket and not taking responsibility when things go wrong, as happened in the ICC T20 World Cup.
“First of all, he said that Jason Gillespie was informed that the selectors would also give him some inputs in preparing the playing XI, and then we had won the Tests against England (Test) and Australia (ODI).
“However, then he said that for the World Cup, we (the selectors) had given them 20-22 players, and the coach and the captain selected the final 15 players and the playing XI for the team. So I suspect that when they won, the input was from the selectors, but when they lost, the blame was put on the coach and the captain,” he said.
I felt bad for Asad Shafiq – Pakistani cricketer felt his former teammate could have been more useful in the conference
Earlier, he had made fun of Asad Shafiq in the beginning of the video and claimed that he liked him the most in the conference and the reason for this was that he did not speak a single word. However, he later claimed that he felt bad for Asad Shafiq.
Junaid praised his former teammate, saying, “Asad Shafiq is a well-known name in Pakistan cricket. I know him since the series in Zimbabwe and Kenya, where I was featured after coming from Under-19, and he came from domestic cricket. Believe me, I have never seen such a humble person in my entire life.”
He said, “If you brought him in for that hour-long press conference, I thought it would be ideal to get some inputs from him on middle-order batting. He was a middle-order batsman himself and our team struggles with middle-order batting.”
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