Ramiz Raja elected PCB chairman

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 05 Jan 2023

Ramiz Raja is set to be elected as the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman with a Special Meeting of its Board of Governors underway in Lahore today. He will become the 36th PCB chief.

The former Pakistan captain was nominated as one of the members of the BoG by Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is the patron-in-chief of the PCB.

According to the PCB constitution, two members of the BoG are nominated by the premier. The chairman is elected by the members from amongst themselves. Historically, the patron’s nominations have ended up becoming PCB chairmen.

The PCB Election Commissioner, Mr Justice (retd) Sheikh Azmat Saeed, will conduct the election and preside over the meeting. It is being attended by BoG members Aasim Wajid Jawad, Alia Zafar, Asad Ali Khan, Arif Saeed and Javed along with PCB CEO Wasim Khan and Ramiz.

This will not be the first time for Ramiz to hold a position in the PCB. He was appointed as the board’s chief executive back in April 2003. But his term ended after only 15 months.

Ramiz, who was part of the 1992 World Cup-winning team under the leadership of now PM Imran, was established as the front-runner for the PCB post when he met the premier last month.

The meeting took place while the former PCB chief Ehsan Mani was nearing the end of this three-year tenure. The latter also met PM Imran and was reportedly offered an extension. However, Mani turned it down.

Ramiz was then nominated by PM Imran for the BoG along with Asad Ali Khan. Since then, there have been reports that the former opener already has heavy influence over the PCB’s decisions.

His nomination was followed by the resignations of former Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis. The duo’s step was reportedly influenced by Ramiz’s conversation with Waqar, in which he told the latter about his plans to sack him and Misbah.

Ramiz was also involved in making major changes to the Pakistan squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup suggested by captain Babar Azam. There were reports that Babar was unhappy with the decisions.