Ramiz Raja elected unopposed as Pakistan Cricket Board chairman for three years

Islamabad: Former Pakistan captain and renowned commentator Ramiz Raja was elected unopposed on Monday as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board for three years. Last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan, in his role as patron of the PCB, nominated Raja to the governing board. He was unanimously elected during a meeting in Lahore. Khan and Raja were teammates on the 1992 World Cup squad that beat England in the final. “One of my key focusses will be to help introduce in the Pakistan men’s cricket team the same culture, mindset, attitude, and approach that once made Pakistan one of the most feared cricket-playing nations,” Raja told the governing board members. “As an organisation, we all need to get behind the national team and provide them the desired assistance and support so that they can produce that brand of cricket, which the fans also expect from them each time they step on to the field of play.”

The 59-year-old Raja, whose elder brother Wasim also represented their country in Test matches, is the only fourth former Pakistan international cricketer to head the cricket board. Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Javed Burki, and Ijaz Butt are the others. Khan had shortlisted Raja’s name after Ehsan Mani declined to accept a short-term extension when his three-year term expired last month. Raja scored 2,833 runs in 57 Test matches and 5,841 runs in 198 ODIs before quitting in 1997. He also served as chief executive of the PCB but established his name more when he took up commentary and became the “voice of Pakistan.”