PCB chairman questions depth of Pakistan's talent pool

PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has questioned the depth of talent among Pakistani cricketers. One day after Pakistan's defeat in their first Test against Bangladesh, he announced the appointment of mentors for the Champions Cup. He believes that players who perform well in the domestic league under the guidance of five mentors will be able to make it to the national team.

After Pakistan's unsuccessful T20 World Cup campaign, the PCB Chairman had stated that he would make significant changes to the team. However, he was unable to do so due to the lack of sufficient alternatives for player selection.

Mohsin Naqvi said, “I spoke about the need for change because we need to address our problems. But when we address them, we don't have any concrete information or player pool from which we can make these changes. The entire system was in disarray. The Champions Cup will create excellent talent, and we will have many options for selecting players for the national team.”

Naqvi believes that the Champions Cup will provide various data and records to aid in the selection of future players. The 150 or more players chosen for this tournament were primarily selected based on computer data.

Naqvi mentioned that many of our players did not have records. He said, “This cup will strengthen domestic cricket. We will have a pool of 150 players. Then, the selector committee will carry out the necessary work.”

Regarding how players were selected for the Champions Cup, Mohsin Naqvi explained, “These 150 players were selected with 80% based on artificial intelligence and 20% based on human input. No one can challenge this. We have given approximately 20% importance to our selection committee. If we exclude or include a player in the team, there will be complaints. However, we will have records and everyone will be able to see transparently who deserves a place in the team.”