Pakistan Cricket continues to remain in headlines, this time for the off the field reasons as their selector and head of youth development, Azhar Ali, has resigned from his position in 12 months after his appointment. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has also accepted his resignation but has not made his departure public.
According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, Azhar resigned after differences with the board, and the matters eventually came to a head after Sarfaraz Ahmed was appointed the head of Pakistan Shaheens and Under-19 sides. Interestingly, even this appointment was not made public by the PCB. However, Azhar felt that Sarfaraz’s appointment in a role that aligned closely with his set of responsibilities led him to feel his position had become untenable.
PCB had made an official announcement when Azhar was appointed
For the unversed, Azhar Ali was first included as a member of the selection panel for the Pakistan men’s team in October 2024. A month later, he was also handed over the role of youth development head and it was also officially announced by the PCB at the time.
PCB had then confirmed that Azhar Ali was “tasked with shaping the future of Pakistan cricket by designing and implementing comprehensive youth cricket strategies, establishing robust grassroots cricket structures and talent pathways, collaborating with regional cricket associations to strengthen age-group programmes, educating emerging cricketers under the PCB’s Pathways Programme, and organising seminars and clinics to build awareness of off-field development essentials for aspiring players”.
The PCB will now have to appoint a new member in their selection panel for the senior men’s team, even as the team is busy playing in the T20I tri-series at home against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. As for their age-group side, the U19 team will feature in the World Cup from January 15 to February 6 next year, where they are grouped alongside co-hosts Zimbabwe, Scotland and England.
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