Pakistan selector Asad Shafiq in USA for T10 league amid crisis with national team

Pakistani selector and former Test player Asad Shafiq has been participating in a T10 league in the USA at a time when the national side is undergoing a crisis which has deepened further with a historic Test defeat against England in Multan.

Pakistan became the first team in Test history to have lost a Test — by an innings and 47 runs to England — after scoring 500 or more in the first essay.

Shafiq has been in Dallas since October 4 for the USA national championship T10 league with the blessings of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

However, a PCB source informed that Asad had been involved in all selection matters online after leaving for the USA.

“Asad had sought permission to be in Dallas from October 4 to 14 before the series against England,” a source in the board said.

Shoaib Malik, who has been appointed a mentor by the PCB, was also lined up to play in Dallas but he changed his plans at the last moment.

Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz are some of the other Pakistani players in action.

Many in Pakistan have expressed surprise over the fact that at a time when the national side is enduring its worst crisis, which also includes a 0-2 loss to Bangladesh at home, the PCB thought it was prudent to allow a national selector to appear in a meaningless event for financial gains.

On Friday, shortly after the loss in the opening Test to England, the PCB added former players Azhar Ali and Aaqib Javed and umpire Aleem Dar to the national selection committee.

Former skipper Misbah ul Haq also faced criticism last month when he had travelled to the USA for a charity event while mentoring a side in the domestic Champions Cup in Faisalabad.