Former Pakistan batsman Haroon Rashid has been appointed as the chief selector of the national selection committee. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi said in Lahore on Monday that Haroon would head the new selection committee, but the rest of the members would be decided later. Haroon, 69, was also named in the 14-member Cricket Management Committee to run the PCB by the board's patron Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on December 22. Interim selector Shahid Afridi has been sacked.

Najam Sethi said, "Haroon has now resigned from the management committee as we do not want a conflict of interest. He is now the chief selector." Haroon, who played 23 Tests and 12 ODIs for Pakistan, retired last year as the director of the PCB's High Performance Centre. He has held various positions in the board including chief selector, manager of senior and junior teams besides head coach of senior-junior teams.

The Cricket Management Committee had named Shahid Afridi as the interim chief selector and Najam Sethi wanted him to stay for a longer period, but the former all-rounder refused. He stressed that he has many works related to the foundation and charity.

Najam Sethi also clarified that talks with Mickey Arthur are still on and a final announcement on the new head coach of Pakistan team will be made in the next two or three days. He said, "I want to make it clear that I am in direct talks with Mikey and I think 90 per cent of the discussion has happened. We have talked about many things. We can give you good news very soon." "

Arthur was also the head coach of Pakistan between 2016 and 2019 and after the World Cup his contract was not extended by the management under chairman Ehsan Mani. Arthur is now working with Derbyshire in the English county.