Najam Sethi Secures Permanent Chairmanship

Lahore Islamabad (Sports Reporters) – Najam Sethi has been given the green signal for his permanent governance of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed his confidence in Sethi during their meeting and nominated him as the Chairman of the PCB, making him the second member of the Governing Board. It is also likely that Mustafa Ramdey, the head of the management committee, will be included. The management committee briefed the Patron of the board on the restoration of the 2014 Constitution and sought the government’s opinion on matters concerning the Asia Cup and World Cup. Najam Sethi stated that Shahbaz Sharif wants Pakistan to have the best cricket team in the world and has directed efforts to strengthen infrastructure and departmental cricket.

Yesterday, Najam Sethi, the Chairman of the PCB Management Committee, met with Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in Islamabad. According to sources, the Patron of the board expressed his confidence in Sethi and nominated him as the Chairman of the PCB. Shahbaz Sharif also directed for the election process within the board to be completed soon. Azam Shehbaz Sharif will soon make two nominations for the PCB Governing Board, with Najam Sethi being one of them. The other member likely to be nominated is Mustafa Ramdey. During the meeting, Najam Sethi briefed the Prime Minister on the revision of the 2014 constitution of the PCB. He stated that most of the work in this regard has been completed, with district cuts in over 90% of the districts and elections for 80% of the regions already concluded. The regional Inter-District U-19 Cricket Tournament is set to commence on June 15. Departmental cricket has also resumed, with all departments forming their cricket teams.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif congratulated Najam Sethi on the successful restoration of the PCB constitution. During the briefing by the head of the management committee on the issues of the Asia Cup and World Cup in India, the government’s opinion was sought. It should be noted that after the Indian cricket board refused to send their team to Pakistan for the Asia Cup, the PCB proposed a hybrid model. However, due to the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) lobbying with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), the proposal was rejected, and the entire event took place in Sri Lanka. A plan has been formulated, and the PCB will be informed about this decision in the upcoming meeting. In this uncertain situation, the matter of Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup is also undecided, and now it is in the hands of the government. Najam Sethi has been consulted by the Patron in this regard.

In an interview, Najam Sethi expressed that his meeting with the Prime Minister took place in a very pleasant atmosphere. He briefed the Prime Minister on the revision of the 2014 Cricket Constitution and expressed his confidence. The Prime Minister has entrusted him with additional responsibilities and aims for Pakistan to have the best cricket team in the world in all aspects. The Prime Minister has also instructed the provision of more facilities for the players. Sethi emphasized the need to work on cricket infrastructure, create employment opportunities for players, strengthen the departmental cricket structure to recruit more cricketers and provide them with opportunities to showcase their talents. He also briefed the Prime Minister about international teams and discussed the Asia Cup and World Cup. The Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, and Federal Minister, Ahsan Iqbal, were also present in the meeting, and they were kept informed about the developments.