Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shahryar Khan has got the nod from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to continue in his present position after speculations that he might step down in August on completing two years in office.
According to Press Trust of India, Shahryar who is in London had spoken to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who is also there for medical treatment. “He has now been told by the patron-in-chief of the PCB that he should continue working and not step down in August as he had planned earlier,” the news agency said, citing sources.
In an interview with the news agency a month ago, Shaharyar, 82, had himself indicated that he might step down after completing two years tenure as PCB chairman in August.
His main grouse was that unlike other cricket playing nations in Pakistan, whenever the team performed badly the media and former players always turned on the board officials and demanded their sacking.
But the source said the scenario had changed and Shaharyar had agreed to carry on working after a detailed discussion with the premier on cricket affairs.
The PCB has carried out a number of reforms since the national team’s poor performances in the Asia Cup and World T20 in India.
The reforms have included the appointments of Mickey Arthur as head coach of the national team, Inzamamul Haq as chief selector and Mudassar Nazar as head of academies.
Mudassar on Thursday visited Karachi to inspect the work going on at the regional cricket academy in the city and announced that it would start functioning again by August 1.
The source said any issues between Shaharyar and his predecessor Najam Sethi, who is now heading the executive committee in the board, had also been sorted out and the latter had also encouraged Khan to continue working as chairman.
The source said although the two heavyweights at times didn’t agree on some issues but were comfortable working together in the board.
Shaharyar will also be representing Pakistan in the annual International Cricket Council (ICC) board meetings from June 27th and is planning to ask the world body to set up a special fund to help Pakistan cricket as no international teams have toured the country since 2009.
Pakistan failed to put up a decent show in Asia Cup T20 in Bangladesh and World T20 in India, making it difficult for head coach Waqar Younis and captain Shahid Afridi to retain their roles. The board came under fire by former players for poor selection and failing to enforce discipline within the team.
Waqar resigned from the helm of the Pakistan team management following the team’s humiliating exit in group stages of the World T20, with Afridi following suit.
On its part, the PCB formulated a fact-finding committee to look into the team’s defeat. Acting on the committee’s recommendations, the board had released Haroon and other key members of the selection committee from employment.