PCB “Connection Camp” to decide future of Pakistan team

• Senior cricketers, board officials to ‘attend’ the camp.
• Decisions to be made in light of the recommendations.
• The change of captain will be discussed.

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will hold a ‘Connection Camp’ – a meeting workshop of the board’s top brass – which will chart the future course of action of Pakistan cricket, sources said Geo News on Saturday.

The sources said Pakistan white ball coach Gary Kirsten, red ball head coach Jason Gillespie, heads of high performance centres, senior cricketers, senior board officials as well as international and domestic managers will attend the camp meeting chaired by PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi.

The meeting is expected to take place on September 22.

Decisions on the fate of the team will be taken in the light of the recommendations made at the Connection Camp, the sources added.

It should be noted that Kirsten had gone home after filing a report with the PCB in July, while Gillespie returned to Australia after the Bangladesh Test series fiasco.

The sources said that the coaches of red ball and white ball cricket will hold a separate meeting with each other.

In addition, they said, ideas will be exchanged for the replacement of captains of the minor and major formats of the game, as there are reasonable chances of replacing the skipper for the white-ball format. On the other hand, Test skipper Shan Masood’s captaincy will also be swept.

A day ago sources had said Geo News that wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan has emerged as the hot candidate for the captaincy, albeit initially only for white-ball cricket.

Sources said the fact that the PCB dropped Babar Azam from the captaincy in the Champions One-Day Championship was an indication that he may not remain the captain of the national team in the long run.

There was a fair chance of a new captain being appointed in place of the star batsman later this year, the sources said, adding that the appointment of a new skipper for one-day internationals and T20 formats was likely ahead of the tour of Australia, scheduled for November.

Sources said that Rizwan’s name is likely to be discussed for the lead role. If agreed, the goalkeeper could be appointed as captain for all three formats in future, they claimed.