ICC World Cup 2015: PCB orders immediate return of chief selector Moin Khan

Karachi: Chief selector, Moin Khan has been ordered to return home immediately from Australia by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in the aftermath of the controversy generated over his visit to a Casino in Christchurch.

PCB chairman, Shaharyar Khan told reporters in Lahore today that the board after investigating the matter had decided to call Moin back.

"We asked him for an explanation and he said he had gone to have dinner at the Casino. But we feel his action was inappropriate at a time when the Pakistan team is struggling in the World Cup," Khan said.

"We don't want to be judgmental but being a chief selector and senior member of the touring squad he should have been careful and we don't think his returning home will have any effect on the team's performances," he said.

"Moin went to a casino at a time when the team is struggling and the whole nation is disappointed," Khan said.

Media reports in Pakistan have said that Moin, a former test captain, had visited a casino on the night of the match against the West Indies in which Pakistan was hammered by 150 runs, their worst ever defeat in a World Cup.

The issue has been played up by some channels in view of the poor performances of the Pakistan team.

Ever since the Pakistan team left for its World Cup campaign last month it has constantly run into controversies with reports from New Zealand and Australia suggesting rifts in the team.

Khan said that manager Naved Cheema will now chair the tour selection committee which will include captain, Misbah-ul-Haq and coach, Waqar Younis.

Sources in the board said that Moin might now also lose his chief selector's job.

Former test captain Moin, who was removed as the team manager before the World Cup, has been sent with the team for the World Cup in a surprise move as in the past the board has never allowed its chief selector to accompany the team on foreign tours.