Mohsin defends picking team without coach's input

Pakistan's chief selector, Mohsin Khan, has defended the decision to name squads for the upcoming series against South Africa without consulting the captain or the coach.

"Let me clarify that it is not written down in the PCB constitution that the coach and captain(s) must have a say in the selection of any squad," he told the website PakPassion.net. "My selection committee and I were asked by the PCB management to select squads for the series against South Africa, so we did that. We were asked by the PCB management to select a squad at short notice, because of the logistics of the series in the UAE and the travel arrangements of the team had to be sorted out very quickly."

Both limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi and coach Waqar Younis have complained that their inputs on team composition weren't taken. The board announced a 15-man squad to take on South Africa last week, but didn't initially name a captain. A day later, Misbah-ul-Haq was appointed Test captain and Afridi was retained as leader of the side for the shorter formats.

"I always prefer if the coach and captain has a say in the selection of any squad and it is always my request to the PCB management to take on board the views of the coach and captain," Mohsin said. "However let me clarify, the captain was not announced by the PCB management and Waqar Younis was not in the country. Regarding the matter of the captain not being announced before the squad was announced, that is something for the PCB management to answer and does not fall under my domain."

The Pakistan board has already cautioned Afridi for expressing his unhappiness with the selection of the squad.

The series against South Africa kicks off in Abu Dhabi with a pair of Twenty20s starting October 26.