LAHORE - Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf on Monday took charge of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman once again after he was restored as board chief by Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday.
Talking to the reporters here at the Gaddafi Stadium, Zaka said that he would review all the decisions taken in the last four-month tenure of Najam Sethi, the man thrown out as chairman by the IHC order. “All the decisions taken by the previous regime stand null and void and we will be reviewing them keeping in view the betterment of the game and the interest of our country.”
He elaborated: “It is a positive and comprehensive decision of the free judiciary which gave its verdict against those who came into the PCB unlawfully. I am the elected chairman of the PCB and I always respected the decisions of the apex courts and now it is also mandatory for others to follow the same to show respect to the courts.”
“Despite being the elected chairman, I accepted the decisions of the court in true letter and spirit and stopped working as the chairman PCB when first time, I received such a decision in the past months. I am the only board chairman who has made a comeback to the PCB thrice,” he added.
Zaka carefully answered a series of questions put up by the reporters and did not give a clear road map on which he intended to run the PCB. “As per ruling of the court, all the decisions become invalid but we will be reviewing them before reaching a decision as it relates to number of important issues,” he said when his attention was drawn to the appointment of team management and selection committees and on some other issues.
Zaka once again termed the Big-3 ‘not good’ for Pakistan and world cricket saying the previous chairman Najam Sethi had taken a decision to lend support to Big-3 and he would be looking into it keeping in view the dignity of the country. “My principle stance was that the revamp is not good for international cricket but now if the PCB (led by Sethi) has signed the draft, we will only look into it and not make Pakistan a laughing stock,” he said.
Answering a question, he said the frequent changes at the highest level of the PCB in recent months damaged the cause of cricket in Pakistan. “I am thankful to Allah Almighty for my reinstatement as PCB chairman and I will continue my efforts in good faith for further elevating the country’s cricket.”
To another query, he praised the potential and leadership qualities of Misbah-ul- Haq as captain and also termed M Hafeez a talented team leader. “In my opinion, both of them have good cricket administrative qualities as captains and the selection of the team should be through a transparent way considering the fitness and form of the players. We have to set our goals and only those should be considered who will be fully fit at the time of selection, setting aside the age factor.”
Replying to a question, he said: “I will follow up on the ‘good decisions’ made under the chairmanship of Sethi. However, if all those ‘good decisions’ are simply verbal agreements then there is nothing that there can be done about that,” he added. It is pertinent to mention here that Sethi has claimed that he has put in a lot off efforts at international level for the cause of Pakistan cricket and he would be revealing ‘good news’ in due course of time.