Ramiz Raja has been removed as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board in the aftermath of the team’s 3-0 Test defeat by England.
Befitting his status as a well-known broadcaster, Raja has been a colourful and vocal presence since being appointed last year but has seen increasing calls to step down.
The ousting of Imran Khan as prime minister removed some of Raja’s powerbase in a country where appointments are ratified at government level, and home series defeats to Australia and England on dull surfaces did not help improve matters.
Raja had angrily railed against the England and Wales Cricket Board’s decision to cancel a tour in 2021, but was part of a careful rebuilding in relations that saw England welcomed back to the country for the first time in 17 years for a T20 series in September and the recently-concluded Tests in Rawalpindi, Multan and Karachi.
Najam Sethi, a two-time chair of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has been installed to oversee a committee that will elect a permanent replacement and includes former Pakistan captains Shahid Afridi and Sana Mir.
Sethi posted a short mission statement on Twitter, vowing to overturn structural changes first implemented in 2019.
He wrote: “The cricket regime headed by Ramiz Raja is no more. The 2014 PCB constitution stands restored. The Management Committee will work tirelessly to revive first-class cricket. Thousands of cricketers will be employed again. The famine in cricket will come to an end.” (Skysports)
