Naqvi, who was credited with saying that the Pakistan team needed “major surgery” after their poor T20 World Cup campaign, now seems to think that the systemic strengths do not exist that would enable such drastic measures. “The problem is that the selection committee has no pool to select players from,” he said. “I spoke of surgery because we need to fix our problems. But when we look at how to solve them, we have no concrete data or player pool that we can draw upon. The whole system was a mess. The Champions Cup will bring out the best talents, and we will have records of the games that took place. For surgery, you need all the tools to do it.”
Domestic records exist in Pakistan and this has been the primary method for selecting international teams. Although Naqvi did not specify what kind of data he wanted, he believes the Champions Cup will provide better data and records for future selections. He said the selection of around 150 players selected for the tournament was done primarily through “computers”.
“We had so many players whose records we didn't have,” Naqvi said. “This cup will strengthen domestic cricket, we will have a pool of 150 players, and then the surgery we need to do will be done by the selection committee. People said 'do it today, slit the throat of four-five players, and get rid of them'. You can't drop someone unless you have a better player to replace him.
“Of the 150 players that have been selected, 80% has been done by AI (artificial intelligence), and 20% has been done using humans. No one can challenge this. We gave about 20% weightage to our selection committee. If we replace a player with a bad player, you will be the first to complain. We will have records and we will all be able to see transparently who deserves a place in the team.”
With Pakistan struggling across all formats, the scrutiny on several members of the squad is mounting. But the domestic structure has been neglected for decades, constantly chopped and changed to suit the whims of those in power at the PCB, putting added pressure on a system designed to bring players to the forefront. Two of the top three highest scorers in last year's Quaid-e-Azam Trophy were veterans Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq, while the top five had no player under the age of 25. Pakistan have also struggled to bring in a quality spin bowler, with Abrar Ahmed the only viable option, as domestic red-ball competitions have come up empty-handed.
“The Champions Cup will be over in September and then records will be made for everyone,” Naqvi said. “Whoever does not perform well will be replaced immediately. It should not depend on anyone's personal opinion and wishes.”
However, it is not clear how this will happen. The upcoming edition of the Champions Cup is a one-day tournament, with Pakistan taking part in a three-match Test series against England immediately following their participation. Selecting players who perform from the Champions Cup will involve calling up players for one format after impressing in another, which has not always worked out for Pakistan in the past.
Naqvi sought to absolve the selection committee of Pakistan's decision not to play a main spinner in the Rawalpindi Test, stressing that it was a decision of the captain, coach and team management.
“It is sad to lose to Bangladesh, but the selection committee had given 17 players to the team. If the coach or captain does not play some of them, it is their decision. The team management may have made a mistake, but it has nothing to do with the selection committee.”
The second Test, which Pakistan need to win to avoid a series defeat, will be played in Rawalpindi from August 30 to September 3.
Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo's Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000