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29 March 2024

Pakistan cricket in turmoil again as court reinstates Zaka Ashraf as PCB chief

Waqar Younis looks on during the Pakistan nets session at Trent Bridge on July 28, 2010 in Nottingham, England. (GETTY)

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By Agencies

Pakistani cricket turmoil deepened Saturday after an Islamabad high court suspended a management committee appointed by the prime minister and reinstated Zaka Ashraf as chief of the cricket board.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had sacked Ashraf on February 10 this year and appointed a committee chaired by Najam Sethi to oversee cricketing matters.

Saturday's order meant all decisions taken by Sethi are now null and void - including the appointments of head coach Waqar Younis and Zimbabwean batting coach Grant Flower.

It is the third time Ashraf has been reinstated since May last year.

Judge Noor ul Haq put aside a notification issued by the Prime Minister in February under which Ashraf was removed as chairman and a 12-member management committee was set up to run cricket affairs under Najam Sethi.

"We have heard about the judgement by the IHC. We are awaiting a copy of it after which we can make a comment," the PCB's legal adviser Tafazzul Rizvi told Reuters on Saturday.

Rizvi said four court petitions had been filed against Ashraf's removal and against the government's appointment of the committee.

Ashraf welcomed the court decision.

"There was a smear campaign launched against me by the current set up and I was removed illegally by the government as I was properly elected as chairman," he said.

The court also reinstated 38 board employees who had filed petitions against their dismissals by the Sethi-led committee.

Ashraf's lawyer Karim Kundi said the court decided to revert to the situation of February 10.

"The notification of February 10 has been struck down as null and void as it was illegal, and as natural consequences Ashraf and other board staff who were superseded by the order are reinstated," Kundi told AFP.

Ashraf hailed Saturday's decision.

"This is a win for Pakistan cricket," Ashraf told Pakistani media. "I will try to correct the wrong things in Pakistan cricket and do whatever is good for Pakistan cricket."

Sethi said he was waiting for the court's written orders.

"I am waiting for the court's orders and it will be up to the government to appeal where they want," Sethi told a private TV channel. "The instability in the PCB is not good for cricket."

Since last year the board has seen a plethora of changes in the role of chairman.

In May 2013 the IHC removed Ashraf, terming his election illegal.

The government then appointed Sethi as caretaker chairman before the IHC restored Ashraf as chairman in January.

Pakistan's Ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination, which oversees sporting matters in the country, is likely to challenge the decision next week.

The same Islamabad court had suspended Ashraf in May last year, ruling his election "dubious". Sethi was appointed PCB chairman in June.

Ashraf appealed against the decision and was reinstated on January 15 this year, before Sharif again sacked him a month later.

The frequent changes have made Pakistan the laughing stock of international cricket.

The Supreme Court earlier this year refrained from taking the case ahead, suggesting that the government has the authority to initiate changes within the PCB.

Earlier this week Sethi announced Pakistan and India would play six bilateral series between 2015-23.

The neighbours have not played a Test series since before the deadly 2008 attacks on Mumbai which the Indian government blamed on militants from Pakistan.

Sethi has also recently appointed former captains Moin Khan as chief selector and team manager and Waqar Younis as coach while former Test leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed was named as spin bowling coach.