Najam Sethi set to succeed Shaharyar Khan as Pakistan Cricket Board chairman

Karachi: Najam Sethi is set to succeed Shaharyar Khan as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman next month after the Patron-in-Chief nominated him for a second term on the Board of Governors (BOG). Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif named Sethi, 69, and Corporate figure, Arif Ejaz as his nominees on the PCB’s BOG. [caption id=“attachment_1471993” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File picture of PCB chairman Najam Sethi. AFP[/caption] The BOG members elect the chairman from the nominees of the patron-in-chief. Shaharyar, 83, has confirmed he will not seek another term after his three-year term ends in August. Sethi, who has been chairman in 2013-2014 when the post became a contentious issue and the matter had to be settled by the Supreme Court. The chairman’s position was embroiled in controversy after Zaka Ashraf, whom Sethi replaced as chairman in 2013, went to court. Sethi who has held an influential position in the PCB during Shaharyar’s tenure by virtue of being the head of the executive committee and Pakistan Super League chairman has made it clear he has no issues with becoming the board chief again. Among the 10 members of the BOG, two are appointed by the Patron and they are four representatives of departments and four from affiliated regional associations. The secretary sports, Government of Pakistan, sits on the BOG as an observer. Sethi has already made his objectives clear if he becomes the next PCB chairman. “I have three primary objectives if I do become the PCB chairman. The first one is to bring the PSL back to Pakistan. “The league needs to return to Pakistan. The sooner we do it, the better it is for the league and cricket in the country in general,” he said in an interview in May. “The second goal I have set myself is to bring back bilateral international series to Pakistan,” he said. The third objective according to Sethi is to wipe out all corruption that may exist in Pakistan’s cricketing system - whether it be in domestic tournaments or international matches.