Inzamam set to be named Pakistan chief selector

KARACHI — Former Pakistan cricket captain Inzamamul Haq is set to be appointed as the country’s chief selector after he was released from his role as Afghanistan’s head coach. The 46-year-old Inzamam guided Afghanistan to the Super 10 stage of the recent World Twenty20 in India, during which it defeated eventual champion West Indies. He had a contract with the Afghan board (ACB) until the end of the year. ACB chief Shafiq Stanikzai said he had received a request from his Pakistan Cricket Board counterpart Shaharyar Khan to release the former batting great from his contract. “Today Shaharyar Khan called me and asked a favor to release Inzamamul Haq as they are keen to hire him,” Stanikzai told reporters. Pakistan exited the World Twenty20 after losing three of its four games in the Super 10 stage prompting head coach Waqar Younis to resign. Inzamam played 378 One-Day Internationals and 120 Tests for Pakistan and also served as the team’s batting consultant for a brief period in 2012. Sri Lanka warns Malinga against IPL matches In Colombo, Sri Lanka cricket authorities Sunday warned injured fast bowler Lasith Malinga against playing in the lucrative Indian Premier League without clearance. Malinga, suffering a knee injury that forced him out of the World Twenty20, is in India where he has signed with the Mumbai Indians, although the veteran did not play in the franchise’s first two outings. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said Malinga needed its clearance to play in any IPL matches and must return to Colombo for a fitness assessment Wednesday before any IPL appearances. “We have no problem with Malinga traveling to Mumbai to be with his IPL team,” the spokeswoman for SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala told AFP. “But in order to play, he must get a NOC (no objection certificate) from SLC.” “Malinga has not informed Sri Lanka Cricket of his travel to India nor his intention to play in the IPL,” she said. After Wednesday’s fitness assessment, “the board will decide what course of action should be taken.” Herath quits short formats Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath has retired from 50-over and Twenty20 internationals in order to carry on playing Test matches, the country’s cricket board said Sunday. The 38-year-old took 74 wickets in 71 ODIs and another 18 in 17 T20 matches for the island nation, shouldered the burden of the slow bowling attack following the retirement of spin great Muttiah Muralitharan in 2011. “Every cricketer has to stop at the right time, I feel it’s time to make room for fresh talent to be groomed with the 2019 World Cup in view,” Herath was quoted as saying in a statement from Sri Lanka Cricket. Arguably the left-arm spinner’s best effort came at the 2014 World Twenty20, where he took five wickets for just three runs as Sri Lanka successfully defended a 120-run target in a must-win match against New Zealand en route to the title.