Ramiz Raja has bore the brunt of Pakistan's 0-3 debacle at the hands of England as he has been sacked as Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) chairman on Wednesday (December 21). Meanwhile, the former PCB chairman Najam Sethi will be taking over the reins again.
Ramiz, who was appointed as PCB chairman back in September 2021 has had to step down from the top post following Pakistan's embarrassing Test outing against England at home. Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved the appointment of Sethi as the next PCB chief.
The Pakistan government, through a notification sacked Ramiz from the post. The notification, issued by Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, has to be approved by the federal cabinet, which is just a formality. The developments on Wednesday confirmed speculation that Sharif, who is the patron-in-chief of the PCB, had decided to appoint Sethi as the new chairman of the country's cricket body.
He was the fourth former cricketer to be appointed to the post after Ijaz Butt (2008-11), Javed Burki (1994-95) and Abdul Hafeez Kardar (1972-77).
Sethi was the chairman and CEO of the PCB between 2013-2018 and resigned soon after Imran and his party won the 2018 general elections.
There was, however, no official word from the PCB or Raja on the latest developments days before the Test series against New Zealand, beginning in Karachi on December 26.
The notification states that the PM has "reviewed" the 2014 constitution of the PCB and abolished the existing constitution made in 2019.
As per the notification, Sethi will head the management committee that includes former Pakistan players Shahid Afridi, Haroon Rasheed, Shafqat Rana, and former women's team captain Sana Mir.
Sethi relinquished the PCB chairman post in 2018 when Imran Khan became the Pakistan's prime minister. Sethi was appointed on a three-year term in 2017, however his bitter relationship with Khan resulted in his early ouster. The 74-year-old has also worked as the PCB chairman in 2013 and 2014.
After Sethi stepped down from PCB chairman, Prime Minister Imran Khan on August 20, 2018, nominated Ehsan Mani as PCB Chairman. On 4 September 2018, he was elected unopposed as PCB Chairman by the PCB's Board of Governors for a period of three years.
Raja is Pakistan’s 18th Test and 12th ODI captain, and played 255 international matches in which he scored 8,674 runs in the period from 1984 to 1997. He has previously served the PCB as its Chief Executive from 2003-2004, has represented Pakistan on the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee and presently sits on the MCC World Cricket Committee.
Raja is only the fourth former Pakistan international cricketer to head the PCB after Abdul Hafeez Kardar (1972-1977), Javed Burki (1994-1995) and Ijaz Butt (2008-2011).
