Zaka Ashraf favorite to become new PCB chairman after Najam Sethi pulls out of race

Zaka Ashraf is the firm favorite to become the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board after Najam Sethi withdrew as a candidate on Tuesday.

Sethi was favorite to continue as chairman after he headed the interim management committee appointed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last December. The interim committee’s mandate ends Wednesday.

The prime minister is the PCB patron and directly appoints two members to the board of governors — and one of them is elected as the chairman. Sharif appointed Ashraf and supreme court advocate Mustafa Ramday on Tuesday with Ashraf the clear favorite to be elected the chairman.

The Pakistan Peoples Party, headed by Asif Ali Zardari, is Sharif’s coalition partner in the government and in recent weeks has demanded that its candidate should be the new chairman because it holds the sports ministry portfolio.

“I don’t want to be a bone of contention between Asif Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif,” Sethi posted on Twitter. “Such instability and uncertainty is not good for PCB. Under the circumstances I am not a candidate for Chairmanship of PCB. Good luck to all stakeholders.”

Sethi replaced Ramiz Raja last December and was given 120 days to reinstate the sport’s domestic structure under the 2014 constitution, after the 2019 board’s constitution was scrapped.

Sethi led some major cricket decisions that included the appointment of Mickey Arthur as director of cricket and Grant Bradburn as national coach. Last week, former South Africa international Morne Morkel was appointed as the national team bowling coach for six months.

Sethi’s proposal for hosting the Asia Cup in August was approved by the Asian Cricket Council. India refused to travel to Pakistan for political reasons so Sri Lanka will stage nine games and Pakistan four games.