I’ll only stay if the patron wants me to: Najam Sethi

LAHORE: Recently reinstated Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Najam Sethi on Thursday said that if the patron of the PCB Nawaz Sharif wants him to stay on as the chairperson, then he will do so, Express News reported.

“I said this before also, I didn’t want to come here,” Sethi said, referring to PCB.

The chair added that since he’s back, he’s contemplating whether or not he wants to stay.

“This is the patron’s decision. If he wants to keep me as chairperson, I’ll stay. If not, then he can bring someone else in,” he said.

Commenting on whether or not the cricket team has been paid for the last two tournaments, which include the Asia Cup and the World Twenty20, he said that the payments have been made.

“As of today, the cheques have been signed off and sent to the players,” Sethi said.

“I don’t like keeping anyone’s money on hold,” he added.

The chair also added that many players from the team called him prior to his reinstatement, and indirectly told him to come back as chair.

Sethi said that the Supreme Court has also sent him the orders to formally hand over the responsibility of PCB to him.

Regarding the security of the PCB, Sethi said that “there is no threat to PCB or me for that matter”.

“I roam around in an armoured car by choice,” Sethi added.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court suspended the decision to reinstate Zaka Ashraf as the PCB chairperson and restored Najam Sethi as the head of the body for the third time.