Former International Cricket Council (ICC) chief, Ehsan Mani, has been nominated as the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) by the country’s newly-elected Prime Minister, Imran Khan. This comes after Najam Sethi resigned from the PCB post.
Ever since Imran was elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, speculations were rife that Sethi’s future in the PCB was under cloud as he never shared a good equation with the former Pakistan captain.
After Sethi sent his resignation, Imran tweeted: “I have appointed Ehsan Mani as Chairman PCB. He brings vast and valuable experience to the job. He represented PCB in the ICC; was Treasurer ICC for 3 yrs and then headed the ICC for another 3 yrs.”
Mani, a seasoned administrator, however, is waiting for the official introduction. Speaking to Sportstar from Karachi late on Monday, Mani said: “At the moment I have been nominated to the Board of governors of the PCB and then they chose the chairman. So, it is a two-stage process. I am a bit limited on what I can say now.”
Having served as the chief of the ICC, Mani brings a lot to the table and he is thankful to Imran for nominating him for the post. “It will be a big challenge. But at this moment, it is a bit premature to even talk about policies and the way forward. All I can say is, the Prime Minister has a vision for cricket in Pakistan, which I completely agree with,” Mani said.
He, however, admitted that the focus is to help cricket grow in the country. “The strength to domestic cricket, grassroot cricket and go back to the basic infrastructure (are the key objectives). With that will come the issues like international cricket and international relations. That will happen in due time,” Mani said.
As a process, over the next few days, the PCB’s board of governors will meet and then under supervision the chief election commissioner of Pakistan, an election will be held to choose the new chairman.
Sethi was nominated to the PCB board of governors by ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from 2014-2017 and then again from 2017-2020 by ex-Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. The seasoned administrator and a journalist, Sethi took to Twitter to announce that he has stepped down. “I was waiting for the new Prime Minister to take oath before submitting my resignation as PCB Chairman, which I have done on Monday. I wish PCB all the best and hope our cricket team goes from strength to strength,” Sethi, who played a key role in the return of international cricket to the Pakistan, wrote.
With Imran nominating Mani, Pakistan cricket looks set for a new sojourn.
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