Ramiz Raja-led cricket regime is no more, says Najam Sethi

ISLAMABAD: The expected new chairman for Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Najam Sethi, after the dissolution of the sport board's constitution, said that the "cricket regime headed by Ramiz Raja is no more".

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif constituted a management committee and named former PCB chief Najam Sethi as its head in a bid to revive PCB's 2014 Constitution.

In his first statement after the development, Sethi said that "the 2014 PCB constitution stands restored".

Taking to Twitter, the likely PCB chairman said that the management committee, which is being headed by him, will "work tirelessly" to revive first-class cricket.

"Thousands of cricketers will be employed again. The famine in cricket will come to an end," said Sethi.

The tweet came after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led government constituted a 14-member committee to take over the working of PCB for 120 days before conducting elections under the 2014 constitution.

The federal cabinet has given approval for the restoration of the 2014 constitution via circulation.

Under the changes, the office of the CEO has been abolished and departmental cricket has been restored in the country.

The government-mandated committee includes Najam Sethi (Chairman), Shakil Sheikh, Gul Zada, Aized Syed, Tanvir Ahmed, Gul Muhammad Kakar, Ayaz Butt, Nauman Butt, Shahid Afridi, Shafqat Rana, Haroon Rashid, Sana Mir, Mustafa Ramday and Chaudhry Arif Saeed.

The management committee will streamline the PCB affairs for at least 120 days before conducting the elections in conformity with the 2014 PCB constitution that has already been vetted by the Ministry of Law, with some minor amendments.

PCB Constitution 2019

The PCB's 2019 Constitution, implemented by former chairman Ehsan Mani, does not allow the prime minister to withdraw or remove the incumbent chairman of the board, after which a vote of no-confidence by a three-fourth majority of the governing board is the only way to remove the PCB chief.

After Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan assumed the office of PM in 2018, Sethi resigned and Mani took charge after his departure. After completing his three-year term, Mani refused an extension last year after which Ramiz Raja took control of the board.