Najam Sethi, who took over as temporary head of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last year after former Pakistani batter Ramiz Raja stood down, has withdrawn from the contest to become the PCB’s next chairman. Ramiz Raja stepped down from his position after Najam Sethi took over as interim chairman.
The decision was revealed on Twitter late Monday night by the journalist-turned-cricket-administrator, who is 75 years old. He cited a political dispute over the appointment between the major parties in the government coalition as the reason for his choice. He added that he does not want to “be a bone of contention between Asif Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif,” and that the conflict’s instability and uncertainty are terrible for the PCB. He also indicated that he does not want to “be a bone of contention between Asif Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif.”
“Salaam everyone! I don’t want to be a source of disagreement between Shehbaz Sharif and Asif Zardari, therefore I won’t bring it up. These levels of volatility and unpredictability are harmful to PCB. Due to the nature of the situation, I am unable to submit my name as a candidate for the position of PCB Chairman. “I wish everyone involved success,” he said on Twitter.
Sethi was reportedly the head of an interim management committee that had been in control of the board since December but whose tenure was slated to end on June 21 according to ESPNcricinfo. This group had been in charge of the board since December. In recent weeks, there has been an increase in the amount of conjecture around Zaka Ashraf’s possible comeback. He looked to be the favorite to remain and be chosen chairman whenever the temporary set-up came to an end.
Both Sethi and Ashraf have a history of battling against one another for senior positions within the Pakistan Cricket Board. Throughout the course of 2013 and 2014, they were involved in a drawn-out court struggle about the post. According to claims that were published in Pakistani media, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had a disagreement about the selection of the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
At the beginning of this month, Pakistan Federal Minister Ehsan Mazari made the announcement that Zaka Ashraf will be the new chairman of the PCB. According to Mazari, Sethi was given the appointment to conduct PCB chairman elections for a period of four months. The management committee was originally granted a total of one hundred and twenty days to fulfill its goal of reinstating the constitution from 2014, the purpose of which was to revive departmental cricket. On the other hand, Sethi and his colleagues have been given a four-week extension, which will run out on the 20th of June.