Pakistan have appointed former umpire and first-class player Aleem Dar to their men's national selection committee.
Dar retired from the ICC panel of elite umpires in 2023, standing in his last Test match between Bangladesh and Ireland in April of that year. He is still, however, part of the international panel, and thus able to stand in ODIs and T20Is - standing in a T20I between Pakistan and New Zealand earlier this year. He announced that he would retire from domestic umpiring at the end of the ongoing Pakistan domestic season.
During his 21-year career on the ICC's elite panel, he officiated on the field in 145 Tests and 222 ODIs. No other umpire has stood in as many Tests as Dar during his career, with the closest being Steve Bucknor, who stood in 128.
Aleem Dar, Aaqib Javed, Azhar Ali appointed to Pakistan's new selection committee
Last month, Dar announced that he would retire from umpiring at the end of the 2024-25 Pakistani domestic season. It is unclear as yet whether he will formally join the selection committee at the end of the season, with a PCB statement simply reading, "The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed that the following members have been added to the men’s national selection committee as voting members: Aleem Dar, Aqib Javed, Azhar Ali and Hasan Cheema."
Read more: Full list: Pakistan become first team to score 500 in an innings defeat
Dar's appointment to the PCB's men's national selection committee comes 10 days after Mohammad Yousuf's resignation from the panel. He will be alongside Aaqib Javed, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali and Hasan Cheema as the other voting members of the committee, which has undergone several personnel changes over the last year. It also no longer allows coaches to have a say in squad selection.
There is also no chief selector on the panel, with Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq both sacked after Pakistan's early exit from the 2024 T20 World Cup. Following Yousuf's resignation, Shafiq was the only member left of the committee with voting rights, with Cheema already part of the committee but without voting rights.
The appointment of the new voting members came shortly after Pakistan's heavy defeat to England in the first Test match of the series in Multan, which saw Pakistan slip to the bottom of the World Test Championship table.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
