"Letter Aaya Termination Ka": Pakistan Great When Asked About Message From PCB Before WCL Final

As the Pakistan men's senior team undergoes yet another rebuild, after a poor T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, some of their former stars travelled to Birmingham for the World Championship of Legends. Up against India in the final, former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq was asked if he received any motivational message from the Pakistan Cricket Board. In what came out as the tongue-in-cheek reply, Razzaq, who was also one of the national selectors for the men's senior team, said that he has received a termination letter. 

"Tell us if the team has received any support or message from the PCB, something like 'win the trophy and we will award you 10,000 dollars?'" former Pakistan cricketer Sikander Bakht asked Razzaq.
In reply, Razzaq said on a lighter note: "Letter aaya hai termination ka (received termination letter)."

Razzaq isn't the only selector who was sacked by the PCB. Former Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz also lost his job after the T20 World Cup 2024 debacle. But, not all of the 7 selectors on the panel were let go of their responsibilities. 

Razzaq even said that he and other selectors picked the Pakistan team for the global even collectively. "How can I sway the other selectors while selecting the team," he said.

Legends Trophy in England , Pakistan India playing today the finals , Abdul Razakh's funny reply about PCB @TheRealPCB @TheRealPCBMedia @TheRealPCB_Live @MohsinnaqviC42 #PakistanCricket pic.twitter.com/MsOl3BqBry

— Sikander Bakht (@Sikanderbakhts) July 13, 2024

Earlier, Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq rubbished allegations of favouring certain Pakistan players and forcing other selectors to toe the line in the T20 World Cup. Both the former Test cricketers, Wahab and Razzaq, were on Wednesday sacked as selectors by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The decision to remove Wahab came as a surprise since he is perceived to be very close to the incumbent PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi. Wahab had also worked as an advisor on sports with wide-ranging powers in the caretaker government in Punjab ran by Naqvi, until the elections were held earlier this year.

Since last year, Wahab has also worked in the PCB in various roles such as the chief selector and senior team manager.

Shortly after Wahab and Razzaq were axed, it was alleged that the former, in the capacity of senior team manager, had ignored uncooperative and bad behaviour from pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi in the T20 World Cup.

Wahab and Razzaq were also alleged to have insisted on selecting some players who were not in form or fully fit.

Wahab said in a statement, "To make collaborative decisions as part of the seven-man panel to select the national team was a privilege - everyone's vote carries equal weight, we made selection decisions as a team and shared the responsibility of that process equally," said Wahab in a statement.

"I don't want to be in any blame game. But I don't agree with the claims that I put pressure on other members of the selection committee. How is it possible that one vote prevailed over six others," said Wahab, adding that everything is documented on record in the 'minutes of the meeting'.

With PTI Inputs

Topics mentioned in this article

Pakistan Cricket Team Abdul Razzaq Cricket