The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is set to elect a new chairman next month, with caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab province, Mohsin Naqvi, emerging as the leading candidate for the post. The process to appoint the next PCB Board of Governors (BoG) chairman will commence once the tenure of the interim management committee ends on February 4, 2022.
Previously, Zaka Ashraf, the Head of the PCB, resigned from his position, which dealt a significant blow to the organization. Ashraf announced his resignation after chairing a management committee meeting in Lahore. He succeeded Najam Sethi as the chief executive of the PCB in June 2021.
According to a Pakistan Cricket Board source, the election commissioner and the acting PCB Chairman, Shah Khawar, finalized the BoG to elect the next chairman.
Anwar ul Haq Kakar, Pakistan’s interim Prime Minister, and the Board’s Patron-in-Chief, has nominated Mohsin Naqvi to the Board of Governors. Mustafa Ramday, another PM candidate, also serves on the Board of Governors.
However, Naqvi can only take over as elected chairman of the PCB once he steps down as interim Chief Minister of Punjab, which can only happen after the general elections.
“The PCB should have a new chairman (Mohsin Naqvi) after the general elections (in Pakistan) on 8th February,” the source maintained.
“But the path is now clear for electing a new chairman and until then the acting chairman and BoG will run Board affairs,” the source added.
The PCB has seen three chairmen in less than three years. Ramiz Raja took over in September 2021, succeeding Najam Sethi and Zaka Ashraf. Despite the changes in the Board’s top brass, the national team’s performance has recently deteriorated, with Test series defeats in Australia and T20I series losses in New Zealand.
Following Pakistan’s disappointing 2023 ODI World Cup campaign, Babar Azam resigned as captain in all formats of the game.
The Men in Green did not advance to the semi-finals, and Babar had a mixed performance with the bat in the main event, scoring 320 runs in nine innings, including four fifties. The Pakistan team has changed management, with Mohammed Hafeez taking on the role of Director of Cricket.