FOR all his efforts, Wasim Khan could never truly find acceptance in Pakistan’s cricket circles. There were several reasons, but none pertained to his abilities. One was his British upbringing. Another was the changes he made to the cricket set-up in the country. The biggest ‘drawback’ though was the fact that he was a professional who wanted to run Pakistan cricket along those very lines. Now he’s gone, having tendered his resignation four months before the end of his tenure as the Pakistan Cricket Board’s CEO. His departure wasn’t unexpected. Mr Khan became the third PCB official to resign from his post last month after former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja took over as chairman of the board with head-coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis stepping down before him. Top officials of the former PCB regime are being weeded out with Mr Raja trying to implement his own set of ideas. But the irony is that the domestic structure Mr Khan was trying to establish by abolishing departments was on the recommendation of the prime minister, the patron of the PCB, who had nominated Ramiz Raja as the new chairman to replace Ehsan Mani.

In a podcast after his resignation, Wasim Khan spoke about how he felt unprotected in the face of character assassination by the media during his tenure. It was that unrelenting. Former cricketers bashed him unashamedly — many of them seemingly outraged at being overlooked for an ‘import’, who they felt did not understand cricket in the country. Despite that, it was during Mr Khan’s time that international cricket returned to Pakistan completely even though the developments of this month, with New Zealand and England calling off their tours, threaten the country with cricket isolation once again. With his exit from the PCB, there are questions about how the work he did will be carried forward. Planning is usually long-term and while there is a constant demand for the national team to be consistent in its performances, inconsistencies in the PCB don’t really help achieve that.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2021