LAHORE: Naveed Akram Cheema, manager of Pakistan cricket team, has stepped down from his post after being appointed chairman of the Federal Public Service Commission by the government.

Talking to Dawn, Cheema confirmed on Friday that he had informed PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan about his decision of leaving the said post during a meeting held here on Friday.

Cheema said it was not possible for him to perform two jobs simultaneously.

“I wish good luck to Pakistan cricket with the hope it will develop further on positive note,” Cheema stated.

Meanwhile, when contacted, a PCB spokesman confirmed that Cheema had taken the decision but the Board official was not in a position to confirm whether Cheema had taken the decision forthwith or he would take it after national team’s forthcoming tour to Zimbabwe.

However, on his part, Cheema told Dawn that he would not accompany the team to Zimbabwe.

If Cheema’s own word is to be considered as final, then the PCB will have to appoint a new manager in a couple of days time as the squad is to leave for Zimbabwe on Sept 24.

Intikhab Alam, who is on the edge of losing his current post of director domestic cricket after the PCB decided to abolish this designation along with the position of director international cricket, is most likely to be named as the new team manager.

The PCB has already appointed former director international cri­cket Zakir Khan as manager of the national U-19 squad. Interestingly, sources told Dawn, Zakir was more interested in the post of manager of national senior team.

Though some players have been facing problems from Cheema, the national team’s discipline remained impressive as no big untoward incident occurred during his tenure as manager except for the Moin Khan (then national chief selector) casino episode that happened in Christchurch during the World Cup earlier this year. The unusual occurrence led to Moin getting sacked as chief selector after the mega event.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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