Islamabad: Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management committee, Najam Sethi, has recently disclosed why Shan Masood was appointed as the vice-captain for the previous home series against New Zealand scheduled in January.

In an exclusive interview with 'Express', Sethi revealed that he wanted to test Masood's abilities as the vice-captain and had consulted with some individuals about the decision. "The decision to appoint the captain and his vice-captain is my discretion. I had some things going on in my mind, and I had also consulted some people in this regard. I thought of trying [Shan Masood] as a vice-captain to test his ability," he said.

However, Shan was not included in the playing eleven of the first match, which was chosen by the selection committee. "I saw that the selection committee of the series consisting of the captain and the coaches did not include him in the playing eleven of the first match. The team management knew the situation better, so there was no such thing," said Sethi.

Sethi clarified that he did not interfere with the selectors' decisions but had the right to ask questions to which they had to answer.  "If the selectors are conflicted, they can defend their decisions, the media rains on them and also asks questions. I said that since there will be cricket questions, I don't need to sit with you, you guys have selected the players and made the decisions, so answer them yourself," he said. The 74-year-old also expressed his satisfaction with the decision to appoint the 33-year-old as vice-captain and maintained that it was the team management's decision not to include him in the initial matches.  "I think that my decision was also right and after that if Shan was not included in the initial matches, it was the decision of the team management, which was right or not, only the observers can tell," he concluded.

Published in The Daily National Courier, April, 14 2023

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