After completing his three-year term, the former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board Ijaz Butt seemed a satisfied man and said that he discharged his duties to the best of his abilities. He also acknowledged that every human being makes mistakes and he was no exception. “I have no regrets whatsoever as I tried my level best and fulfilled my duties with honesty. I believe curbing the player-power is the highlight of my tenure. It paved the way for young blood”, said Ijaz Butt in a television interview.
Butt assumed the office of the PCB chairman on Oct 8, 2008, and on the expiration of his tenure this month, it was reported that he sought an extension, however the former chairman denied the news and claimed that President Asif Ali Zardari offered him an extension, however he declined. “I did not ask for an extension and in fact formally informed the President in September about my intentions”, added Ijaz Butt “The president even gave me an option to get another term and later resign after 6-7 months, however I had decided to focus on my business which has suffered”, added the former wicketkeeper batsman who played in 8 Tests from 1959 to 1962. President Zardari, who is the Patron of the PCB, has on Tuesday appointed Zaka Ashraf as the new chairman of the board. Since the International Cricket Council (ICC) has made it mandatory for the PCB to appoint a democratically elected chairman by next year, some quarters also expected the democratic return of Ijaz Butt. Describing the controversies in his career as unfortunate, with the attack on the Sri Lankan team as the most serious of them all, the former chairman also made a slight displeasure over the way he was criticised on various occasions.“ “The attack on the Sri Lankan team was really unfortunate but it was not the fault of the PCB. On various other occasions, I was misquoted and criticised unnecessarily,” concluded Ijaz Butt.
Sri Lanka team attack, fixing controversy worst of my term: Butt
