Zaka Ashraf resigns as PCB Chairman
Source: Google
Zaka Ashraf quit as the interim head of the Pakistan Cricket Board on Friday, just days after the government stopped him from convening a meeting.
The government’s inter-provincial coordination committee asked Ashraf to cancel a PCB management committee meeting in Karachi this week and stopped him from taking any major financial decisions.
“At the end of the meeting, Mr Zaka Ashraf announced that he had decided to tender his resignation as chairman and member of the MC to the honourable Patron Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar,” a PCB statement said. “In his concluding remarks, Mr Zaka Ashraf thanked the honourable Patron PCB for the confidence and trust reposed by him and extended his best wishes and prayers for the betterment of Pakistan and Pakistan cricket,” the statement added.
“He (Ashraf) thanked members of the MC, the PCB management and staff for their support during this tenure,” the cricket board said in their statement. “Members of the MC and the PCB management expressed their gratitude to the Chairman MC for his leadership.”
Ashraf replaced Najam Sethi in July as chairman of the management committee
The government gave Ashraf until Feb. 4 to form a board of governors and organize an election for a PCB chairman but he failed. The Pakistan men’s team endured below-par performances during Ashraf’s tenure. The team didn’t get out of the group stage at the Cricket World Cup in India and didn’t pass the Super Four in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.
Babar Azam resigned as the captain in all formats after the World Cup, and Ashraf asked team director Mickey Arthur and coach Grant Bradburn to report to the National Cricket Academy in Lahore before both foreign coaches eventually quit.
Under new test captain Shan Masood, Pakistan was routed by Australia 3-0. Twenty20 captain Shaheen Shah Afridi is trailing 4-0 in the five-match series in New Zealand, with the last T20 to be played on Sunday.
Ashraf, who headed the PCB in the 2011-13 period, replaced Najam Sethi at the helm in July after a change in the political coalition ruling the country. In November last year, he was given a three-month extension to keep heading the PCB’s Management Committee.
Before stepping down, he listed out his achievements, including a visit by the Indian Cricket Board team. The PCB statement highlighted the visit of the Roger Binny-led Indian Cricket Board, which crossed the border during the Asia Cup in August.
Many reasons are being attributed to Ashraf’s sudden exit, one of them being his educational qualification. He apparently is not a graduate. It is also said that his tenure was also set to end in February, and foreseeing the inevitable, Ashraf, who took over in July, bowed out.
