Former Pakistan cricketer calls PCB's meeting with veterans 'ridiculous'

Former Test cricketer Atiq-uz-Zaman has expressed frustration over the recent meeting of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi with several former cricketers. 

The meeting, aimed at leveraging the expertise of seasoned players to improve Pakistan's cricket infrastructure, took place on July 9th at a hotel on Mall Road, Lahore.

The high-level discussion saw participation from over fifteen former Test and international cricketers, including notable names such as Salman Butt, Ijaz Ahmed, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Basit Ali, Intikhab Alam, Asim Kamal, Mohammad Sami, Shafiq Papa, Yasir Hameed, Saleem Altaf, Haroon Rasheed, Yasir Shah, Sikandar Bakht, Wajahatullah Wasti, and Azhar Khan. 

The cricketers offered a variety of recommendations to strengthen the nation's cricket framework, with a major focus on the team combination and selection during the recent ICC T20 World Cup. 

Concerns were raised about the imbalance in the team due to an overabundance of openers and a lack of dependable middle-order batters.

In a recent interview on a local sports platform, Atiq voiced his discontent with the selection process for the meeting. 

"The PCB has brought in people who were always chatting in the media against them. I didn't receive a single call. You know, I played Test cricket for Pakistan as well. I am qualified and currently working from England, yet I didn't get a call. I don't know the criteria for selecting the players they brought in. I have seen a lot of legends there, but I believe this is a different era of cricket; you have to have a modern approach. If you want to bring in players from the 70s, 80s, or 90s, there should be certain criteria," Atiq said.

The former cricketer did not hold back his criticism regarding the PCB's decision to bring together a selected group of former cricketers for a meeting. 

He questioned the board's criteria for selecting the attendees, suggesting that the move needed to be better conceived and needed more transparency.

"There will always be conflicts, and it was a bad idea to bring all of them together. I don't understand how you categorized all 22 players. There must be 220 former players who played for Pakistan, so why did you bring in 22? What were their qualifications and their experience working as administrators? You called Tanvir Ahmed; why did you call him? Why didn't I get a phone call? I think it was a ridiculous idea," he concluded.