PCB confirms final names of four-member selection panel

Following the official announcement of Grant Bradburn as team Pakistan’s head coach, the PCB confirmed the names of the four-member panel in the selection committee. The apex board confirmed two appointments apart from Bradburn and Mickey Arthur (national men's team's director), who will oversee the national team and the U19 side.

The newly formed committee comprises Haroon Rashid (chair), and Hassan Cheema (selection committee secretary and manager analytics and team strategy for the national men's side) as confirmed by the PCB. The cricket governing body released a statement on the official appointments of the new members of the panel, who will aid Arthur and Bradburn in strategizing plans for the national team.

"The presence of Cheema, who has worked as strategy manager and data analyst in franchise cricket around the world, Arthur and Bradburn will aid in strategizing for the approaching and upcoming series, enhance the bench strength and provide a proper pathway to performing players in Shaheens and U19 sides to graduate to the national side," the PCB statement read.

We want to use incorporate data in our selection: Najam Sethi

Notably, PCB chief Najam Sethi expressed that the selections of the national team will require the use of data, an area of which Hassan Cheema has an understanding of. It is worth mentioning that Hassan worked with Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise, Islamabad United, as their strategy manager.

“We want to use incorporate data in our selection and Hassan is an expert in this field,” Sethi was quoted as saying by The News International.

On Sunday, May 13, the PCB officially appointed Grant Bradburn as the head coach of the national team, following a rigorous recruiting process. Bradburn previously served as a fielding coach in 2018 and later as the head of high-performance coaching until 2021. In addition to this, he was appointed as the interim coach in April, for the multi-format series against New Zealand before being confirmed as the head coach of the side.