THE oft-turbulent tenure of Zaka Ashraf as the country’s cricket chief is over, with the Pakistan Cricket Board about to see its fourth change at the top in 13 months. On Friday, Mr Ashraf tendered his resignation as chairman of PCB’s interim management committee two weeks before the latter’s tenure was set to expire. Many critics have described his tenure as the worst period in PCB’s history. Mr Ashraf was appointed chairman last June for four months, before being granted a three-month extension by the government to conduct PCB elections. He reportedly quit because he felt his hands were tied, with the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination allowing the committee to manage only day-to-day affairs. With his resignation, the prime minister will appoint a new management committee. What happens to the appointments made by Mr Ashraf is not clear. There have been wholesale changes made by incoming PCB chiefs. Najam Sethi dismissed the team management and selection committee appointed by PCB chairman Ramiz Raja when he became the chief in December 2022. Mr Ashraf also sidelined the team management, albeit only recently, and changed the chief selector when he took the reins.

The Zaka Ashraf-led committee was under fire after the national team’s underwhelming performance at last year’s Asia Cup and the World Cup. Pakistan then suffered a 3-0 whitewash in the Test series against Australia and has lost four of the five matches in the ongoing Twenty20 series in New Zealand. There have been reports of discord within the team and Mr Ashraf’s bitter relationship with former captain Babar Azam has been no secret. A conversation featuring Babar was leaked to the media by the outgoing chairman, while a recording also came to light exposing Mr Ashraf’s move to force Babar to quit as all-format cricket captain. It is hoped that the new interim committee can quell the turbulence that Pakistan cricket has seen of late.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2024