Daily Times

LAHORE: Zaka Ashraf officially assumed charge as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) new interim management committee at PCB head quarters at Gaddafi Stadium here on Thursday. The PCB announced the development in a press release and also shared a video of a smiling Zaka arriving at the building. Kalimullah Khan, Ashfaq Akhtar, Muhammad Mussadiq Islam, Azmat Pervez, Zaheer Abbas, Khurram Karim Somroo, Khawaja Nadeem, Mustafa Ramday and Zulfiqar Malik are also included in the 10-member committee. The committee has been approved for a period of four months.The new committee comes after Zaka’s election as PCB chairman on June 28 could not be held due to litigation despite the 70-year-old having the backing of the federal government to become the country’s new cricket chief. Zaka was set to take over the hot seat after his nomination, alongside that of Mustafa Ramday, to the Board of Governors of the PCB by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who is also the PCB’s patron-in-chief, only for the elections to be stayed by high courts in Balochistan and Lahore. According to sources, the government will vigorously contest all cases filed against the elections of the PCB. Enjoying the full backing of federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coord­ination Ehsanur Rehman Mazari, Zaka’s name was put forth by the PPP, which is part of the coalition government with the PML-N.

The Balochistan High Court, without hearing the other party, issued a stay order and adjourned the hearing until July 17, causing a major stir in the functioning of PCB. The IPC ministry, in its summary to the Prime Minister, cited that the numerous litigations which may hinder the smooth functioning of the PCB are due to the “inefficiency” of Ahmed Shehzad Farooq Rana, the incumbent election commissioner of the PCB.

The PCB’s Board of Governors comprises ten members: four regional representatives, four representatives from services, and the two members nominated by the Prime Minister. These members will conduct a vote to determine the next chairman. Historically, it is the Prime Minister’s appointment to the PCB Board of Governors who becomes the chairman for a three-year term, and Ashraf, the overwhelming favourite at a time, was all set to become chairman. The legal issues began after Najam Sethi pulled out of the race to become the next PCB chairman. Soon after he made way for Ashraf to take over, several of Sethi’s associates, who were part of his interim set-up, went to court to file writ petitions, thus creating a legal wrangle. Sethi had been heading the interim management committee that had been running the PCB since last December, but its tenure ended on June 20. The committee had a mandate to carry out the election according to the PCB’s 2014 constitution, but the task was never completed.