LAHORE – Chief selector Mohsin Khan has demanded monetary reward for selectors after the team’s performance in the recently-concluded ICC World Cup 2011. Mohsin’s demand follows a similar statement by national team coach Waqar Younis.
Mohsin stated the example of India, where he claimed the national selectors were given bonuses of 2.5 million each for the Indian team’s World Cup title victory. Mohsin said Pakistani selectors also deserved a similar treatment. “When you consider the problems Pakistan cricket has faced in the last few months and the fact that we had lost some of our leading players to a ban, the selectors did a good job in picking a balanced side that made it to the World Cup semi-final against all odds,” he noted.
“I think the selectors deserve credit for this and also for having the guts to include new players in the side,” he added. After returning home from the World Cup, Waqar Younis had voiced a demand that team officials be rewarded financially for the team’s good performance as they had a big role to play in the preparation of the players.
Waqar’s statement hit its mark as Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, while hosting a reception for the World Cup squad, announced Rs 1 million each for the players and half a million each for the team officials. Mohsin, a former Test opener, pointed out that when the team’s performance was unsatisfactory, the selectors had to bear the brunt of the criticism and were also ridiculed.
“When the team does well, the selectors should be rewarded in the same manner as the players and the team officials,” he said. In Pakistan, the selectors are the paid employees of the cricket board, with the chief selector entitled to a salary of Rs 250,000 plus other perks and benefits from the board.
Mohsin said that India had rewarded its selectors for a logical reason and the same system could also be looked into by the board. Sources said Mohsin was considered for accompanying the team to the West Indies as a batting coach, but the board changed its mind at the last moment.
