Najam Sethi appointed interim PCB chairman

Cricket is a very dear sport to Pakistanis and it is my passion, says Sethi.

Senior analyst and former caretaker chief minister of Punjab Najam Sethi was appointed as the interim chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday, reported Express News.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approved the appointment.

Mumtaz Haider, Chishti Mujahid and Arif Abbasi were also nominated for the post.

Talking to the press in Lahore, Sethi said that as an acting chairman he will forge his way forward carefully.

He said major decisions will only be announced after consulting with inter-provincial committees and the court.

"ICC had given us guidelines about how democratic elections should be held in the Board but later only realized that in countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan, democracy at the grassroots level isn't possible because of corruption," Sethi explained.

Critics have lashed out at Sethi's appointment on the grounds that he has never played cricket.

"Pakistan Cricket Board has ten members and none of them have played first-class cricket," Sethi retorted.

In a lighthearted comment, he added that he had played cricket as an opening batsman in his school years.

"Till the time Imran Khan was in the game, I followed the sport religiously," he said.

"Cricket is a very dear sport to Pakistanis and it is my passion. We won't fail our people," Sethi added.

When asked if he'd be continuing his previous job at a private news channel he said, "Acting chairman or not, I'm a media person and I will return to my previous job next month."

Earlier this week, the Islamabad High Court had ordered the government to appoint an interim head of the PCB after Zaka Ashraf was suspended from the post over a legal challenge to his election.

Ashraf was ordered to halt work last month amid a row over his election, which was criticised in some quarters as unfairly influenced by President Asif Ali Zardari, the board’s patron.

Ashraf, 60, became the first-ever elected chairman of the PCB last month under a new constitution demanded by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to reduce political interference.

But for the vote Zardari nominated Ashraf – whom he had appointed as chairman in 2011 under the old system deemed unacceptable by the ICC – and only one other candidate, former Lahore Stock Exchange chairman Aftab Ahmad.

Ashraf’s nomination was widely criticised by former players and officials because it was seen as politically motivated, with the cricket head coming from the same party as the president, and former Pakistan Army cricket coach Ahmed Nadeem Sadal challenged it in the courts.

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