The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is in a state of upheaval as Najam Sethi has withdrawn from contention for the position of PCB chairman. Sethi was considered a frontrunner to continue in his role after leading the interim management committee appointed by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in December of the previous year. The tenure of the interim committee was set to expire on Wednesday.
The prime minister, as the patron of the cricket board in Pakistan, has the authority to directly appoint two members to the PCB board of governors, with one of them subsequently elected as the chairman.
The Pakistan Peoples Party, led by Asif Ali Zardari, is Sharif’s coalition partner in the government and has recently insisted that its candidate should be appointed as the new PCB chairman due to its control of the sports ministry within the coalition.
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In a tweet, Sethi expressed his desire not to become a source of conflict between Asif Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif, stating that such instability and uncertainty would not be beneficial for the PCB. Consequently, Sethi declared himself not a candidate for the chairmanship. He extended his best wishes to all stakeholders involved.
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It is expected that former PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf, who enjoys the support of the PPP, will be one of the two candidates appointed by the prime minister.
During his tenure, Sethi made several significant decisions, including the appointments of Mickey Arthur as director of cricket and Grant Bradburn as head coach. Just last week, former South Africa international Morne Morkel was named the national team’s bowling coach for a six-month period.
Sethi also devised a hybrid model for the Asia Cup, which received approval from the Asian Cricket Council. Under this model, India will play all its matches in Sri Lanka instead of traveling to Pakistan due to strained political relations. Sethi successfully arranged for four games to be held in Pakistan, while the remaining nine matches of the Asia Cup will take place in Sri Lanka from August 31 to September 17.