Najam Sethi, the current chairman of the PCB Management Committee, has stated his decision to step down from the race for the chairmanship of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). This announcement was made via a tweet on Tuesday morning.
He emphasized in his tweet that he wished to avoid becoming a point of contention between Asif Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif, asserting that any conflict could bring instability and uncertainty, which would be detrimental to the PCB.
Before this, Ehsan Ur Rehman Mazari, the Federal Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC), asserted that Zaka Ashraf, who enjoys the backing of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), is poised to be the next PCB chairman.
Mazari made clear that Sethi’s role was temporary, aimed at managing elections and re-establishing the 2014 constitution as directed by PM Shehbaz Sharif, who also holds the patroonship of the PCB.
Initially, Sethi and his team were given a 120-day term to implement their mandate of reinstating the 2014 constitution to reinvigorate departmental cricket. However, they were given a four-week extension which ends on June 20.
Mazari underlined that there would be no further extensions for the management committee, suggesting that Zaka Ashraf will take over as PCB chairman. Ashraf, who previously held this role during the last PPP government, is again favored by the party’s senior leadership to helm the PCB.
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