Zaka Ashraf responsible for 'the good and bad' decisions: Former PCB chairman

Says PCB's part in mishandling the match-fixing saga involving Pakistani umpires is tantamount to criminal negligence.

KARACHI:
Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf should take the responsibility for all ‘the good as well as the bad’ decisions regarding board affairs, team management and other related problems, said former Chairman PCB Khalid Mahmood.

Mahmood reportedly commented on Ashraf’s statement where the PCB chief reportedly had said that he does not interfere in matters of the team management and other committees.

"Being the head of the PCB, Zaka Ashraf is fully responsible for what is happening in Pakistan cricket. He cannot absolve himself of what is happening in the board,” Mahmood said.

The debate arose in wake of the Abdul Razzaq controversy after the all-rounder accused captain Mohammad Hafeez of dropping him from the team in for the World Twenty20 semi-final loss against Sri Lanka.

Hafeez in a media talk had claimed that Razzaq was dropped by the team's management.


"These decisions are taken and recommended to him by his ‘handpicked’ committees. So he should also take the responsibility for the good and bad," said Mahmood,

"Being the head of an institution it is always the head of the department who should take responsibility for all the acts whether good or bad," he added.

Talking about the recent match-fixing controversy, involving cricket umpires including Pakistani umpire Nadeem Ghauri’s claim that he had informed an unnamed PCB official about the offer to him, Mahmood said, "If Nadeem's claim is correct then this is criminal negligence on the part of the PCB which gave the country a bad name.

"If Ghauri had informed the PCB, they should have acted and informed ICC of the episode which could have enhanced Pakistan's reputation instead of defaming the country across the world," he added.

The former chairman had resigned after the Pakistan team, under former skipper Wasim Akram’s captaincy, suffered a humiliating defeat against Australia in the final of the 1999 World Cup held in England.
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