Najam Sethi, who held the position of the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on an interim basis, has pulled himself out of the race for the board’s next chairman. Yesterday late into the night, Sethi took to Twitter to announce his decision, stating as he doesn’t want to be the bone of contention between Asif Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif.
Notably, the Pakistan Peoples Party headed by Zardari and Sharif’s party has formed a coalition government. Zardari demanded that a candidate from his party should get selected as PCB’s next chairman because the sports ministry comes under PPP.
“Salaam everyone! I don’t want to be a bone of contention between Asif Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif. Such instability and uncertainty are not good for PCB. Under the circumstances, I am not a candidate for Chairmanship of PCB. Good luck to all stakeholders,” Sethi wrote on Twitter.
Salaam everyone! I don’t want to be a bone of contention between Asif Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif. Such instability and uncertainty is not good for PCB. Under the circumstances I am not a candidate for Chairmanship of PCB. Good luck to all stakeholders.— Najam Sethi (@najamsethi) June 19, 2023
In Pakistan, the prime minister directly appoints two members to the PCB board of governors, including the chairman. Sethi was appointed by Sharif on an interim basis whose tenure would have expired on Wednesday.
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Najam Sethi’s major decisions during his chairmanship
Najam Sethi replaced Ramiz Raza as PCB’s new chairman on an interim basis last December. He was appointed by Sharif and was given 120 days to reinstate the domestic structure under the 2014 constitution.
Under Sethi, PCB appointed Mickey Arthur as director of cricket while Grant Bradburn became the head coach. Former South Africa pacer Morne Morkel signed a contract as the national team’s bowling coach for a period of six months.
The recent decision by the Sethi-led board was the creation of the ‘hybrid model’ and its approval by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) for the 2023 Asia Cup. This will see Pakistan play host to the 2023 Asia Cup, and due to the strained relationship with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), India will play all of their matches in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Zaka Ashraf is expected to be one of the two candidates for the PCB chairman position. He is the former PCB chairman and also has the backing of the PPP party.
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