Former captain Ramiz Raja is set to take over as chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). He will succeed Ehsan Mani whose term ended on Wednesday and who had been in charge since 2018.
Sources told The Telegraph that Ramiz got the nod for the post from the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday. Both Ramiz and Mani had met Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday.
Mani had been handpicked by Imran but his style of functioning both at the PCB and the International Cricket Council didn’t leave the Prime Minister impressed.
Ramiz is a former chief executive of the PCB and had been in the hot seat when India’s revival tour of Pakistan took place in 2004. Shahryar Khan had been the chairman then.
It will be the first time that two former captains are in charge of India and Pakistan’s cricket boards. Sourav Ganguly has been BCCI president since October 2019. Ramiz laid out his plans before Imran on Monday, which is learnt to have been pragmatic.
“Having played with Ramiz, Imran is well aware of his no-nonsense approach. His pursuit for excellence and ability to maintain good relations with other nations worked in his favour,” a source told The Telegraph.
Imran, who is the patron-in-chief of the PCB, has nominated two names to the powerful seven-member board of governors. Besides Ramiz, the other member to be nominated reportedly is businessman Asad Ali Khan.
There could be a contest if any of the other members decides to fight for the chairman’s post. However, the Prime Minister’s nominee faces no opposition and Ramiz is being seen as the automatic choice.
