LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: A senior PML-N leader Rana Mashood said that the government will replace Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja in a few weeks.
Rana Mashood, who is a former provincial sports minister, today asked Ramiz Raja to step down from the post gracefully. Ramiz Raja was appointed PCB Chairman in August 2021 by then prime minister Imran Khan when the tenure of Ehsan Mani ended.
Talking to media, he said that Ramiz should have resigned as the PCB chairman the moment PTI government was ousted.
“I don’t see any future for Raja in Pakistan cricket.” Mashood said, adding that the government hasn’t been able to take an immediate decision in this regard due to other “important and pressing issues”.
Rana Mashood also hinted at the revival of departmental sports and also announced the initiation of sports endowment fund.
“Department of Sports is being revived to provide employment to the players,” he maintained.
Last month Ramiz claimed that he was asked by the government to continue working as PCB chairman.
“I am not going anywhere. The newly elected government has directed me to keep working,” Ramiz said last week.
There are speculations that the government would again appoint Najam Sethi as the PCB chief due to the former’s close ties with Sharif.
The former PCB Chairman Sethi stepped down in 2018 when Imran was sworn in as the prime minister. He was appointed on a three-year term in 2017, however his sour relationship with Khan resulted in his early exit.
Other than Sethi, the names of Shakil Sheikh, former PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf and former Lahore region president Khawaja Nadeem are also doing the round to be the chairman of the PCB.
