Following his withdrawal from consideration for the position of the next board chairman, Najam Sethi has essentially resigned as the chairman of the PCB. Sethi’s leadership had placed the board under the control of an interim management committee since last December, with their term scheduled to expire on June 21.
Sethi pulls out race to PCB chairman: Until recently, it seemed that Sethi’s continuation in that role and his appointment as the official chairman of the board after the interim arrangement ended were likely. But rumours of Zaka Ashraf’s reappearance had been louder during the previous few weeks. Although Ashraf, a previous board chairman himself, is expected to return, Sethi’s resignation has already been announced.
Sethi tweeted, “I don’t want to be a bone of contention between Shehbaz Sharif and Asif Zardari. Such unpredictability and volatility are bad for PCB. Given the facts, I am not a candidate for PCB Chairmanship. Good luck to all parties involved.
The political hedging over the chairmanship was the subject of Sethi’s tweet. Pakistan’s current prime minister and supporter of the PCB is Shehbaz Sharif. Reports indicate that Asif Ali Zardari, a significant coalition partner in the present government and a former president of Pakistan with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), favors Ashraf as the preferred choice.
The PM’s appointment to the PCB board of governors typically results in the appointment of the board chairman in Pakistan cricket tradition. Typically, Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party would choose the PCB chairman. But during the past few weeks, the PPP has claimed that they retain the right to nominate a candidate of their choosing through the ministry for inter-provincial coordination (IPC), as they are the ones in charge of Pakistan sports.
Two Candidates Emerged for PCB Chairman Position as Elections Approach
The two candidates will be Ashraf and renowned Supreme Court attorney Mustafa Ramday, according to ESPNcricinfo, even though the prime minister has yet to propose two names. The PCB’s 10-member board of governors (BoG) will include both candidates, and it is likely that one of the direct candidates of the PM will be chosen as PCB chairman for a three-year term. Elections are typically a formality, with Ashraf being the clear favourites to win.
With Ashraf’s return after a nine-year absence, the tug of war between him and Sethi between 2013 and 2014 is over—at least for the time being. During those years, the chairmanship was the subject of a protracted court fight between the two parties, which saw multiple changes in control. Shehbaz’s older brother, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, ultimately fired Ashraf and appointed Sethi, resolving the matter.
However, the two groups compelled Sethi to make room for Ashraf after several days of vigorous negotiation.
After ousting Ramiz Raja as chairman and discarding the board’s 2019 constitution in December of last year, Sethi has been leading the PCB on an interim basis. The initial deadline for Sethi’s committee to reestablish the 2014 PCB constitution and the regional and departmental structures in domestic cricket was 120 days. The committee also received a directive to establish a board of governors and choose a chairman.
There arose a need to scrap the six-team provincial model for domestic cricket, which former premier Imran Khan had supported. With the restoration of departments, the domestic system will henceforth be based on 16 regions. Four departments and four areas will each have a seat on the PCB board for a period of three years.
Key Responsibilities and Challenges for the Successor of PCB Chairman Najam Sethi
In accordance with the 2014 constitution, the PCB must also appoint 10 members to its board of governors, including four of the 16 regional delegates, four representatives of service organisations, and two patron-nominated members.
Sethi’s management committee has been managing the hiring of a coaching team for Pakistan primarily from abroad during the past six months, appointing former head coach Mickey Arthur as the part-time director of cricket.
Throughout his brief tenure, Sethi preoccupied himself with the trickier topic of Pakistan hosting the Asia Cup and its connection to Pakistan’s probable participation in the World Cup, which is set to be held in India in October of this year. Sethi mentioned three days ago that the Pakistani government must approve Pakistan’s participation in the event. One of the more urgent challenges for Sethi’s successor to address is that.