Mohsin Khan denies 'dummy selector' claim

Mohsin Khan, Pakistan's chief selector, responded to criticism over his position and committee, angrily rejecting claims that he is a "dummy selector".

Mohsin came under fire at a press conference at Karachi's National Stadium, held ostensibly to announce the comeback of Younis Khan into the national fold but one that soon turned into a heated questioning over the influence of board chairman Ijaz Butt on selection matters.

Criticism of Mohsin's tenure has grown steadily almost from the moment he was appointed in March. Since then he has had to face charges of bias and non-consultative selection. More recently, after announcing the squad for the limited-overs and Test series against South Africa, questions were asked about the timing of the announcement - made before the domestic Twenty20 tournament - as well as the increasingly marginalised role of the coach and captain in selection and the greater one of the board head.

In a recent hearing at the national assembly's standing committee of sports, coach Waqar Younis publicly expressed his unhappiness at not being consulted. "It is not in my contract to consult captain and coach," Mohsin said. "With the experience of international cricket I feel the captain and coach should be involved. But it depends on policy. This time the captain wasn't announced and the coach was outside. We were told they need a team so we gave a team. After it, we could consult them and we did so."

Those consultations brought the belated selection of Wahab Riaz and Shahzaib Hasan for the limited overs portion of the South Africa series. Shahzaib's call-up came after a sterling performance in the Twenty20 competition, where he played an integral part in Karachi Dolphins' run to the final. But Mohsin defended announcing the squad before the tournament, claiming that the focus of the series with South Africa wasn't on T20Is.

"The T20 tournament was not a selection criteria," Mohsin said. "Shahzaib is a talented guy so we brought him in. We picked him earlier for the Asia Cup and England tour but he disappointed there and we didn't pick him again. But we feel there is a very good player in him and his T20 performance was great. The basic concentration of this tour is not T20s but Tests and ODIs. Because the series is in Dubai, where conditions are close to Pakistan and Shahzaib is a good strokeplayer."

There has been growing concern during Mohsin's tenure of the influence Butt has on the shaping of national squads. One ex-selector told ESPNcricinfo last week that Mohsin only took instructions from the chairman and announced the squad without consulting his own committee. "This is not true at all," Mohsin replied. "The chairman's involvement only comes when the team has to be finally approved, because of discipline, fitness and those issues. Only the final approval comes from chairman."

Asked directly whether he was a "dummy selector," Mohsin replied: "The words you have used, I could also but I don't get into that language. I am not the chairman of the PCB, I am chairman of the selection committee and that has some rules through which you make a team. The final approval comes from the chairman and this has been happening for a long time."