New Beginning For PCB!!

Finally, one of the worst chapters of Pakistani cricket came to an end as Ijaz Butt was removed as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board. An official announcement is still awaited but it is understood that President Asif Ali Zardari has already decided on Butt’s successor.

In Ijaz Butt’s tyrannical rule Pakistani cricket hit rock bottom.The armed attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore followed by Pakistan’s isolation from international cricket was just a start. No team deems it secure to visit Pakistan to date. As a result we also lost out as co-host of the ICC World Cup 2011. Then, there were spot fixing scandals during England’s tour last year that led to bans on three Pakistani cricketers, two of whom could have led us to the number 1 ranking in world cricket. In the aftermath of these scandals, Butt made some ill-advised accusations against the English team. This ensured Pakistan lost one of the few friends it had in the ECB. Lastly, there were much publicized clashes with current players especially Shahid Afridi.

There were some high points however, as Pakistan won the T20 World Cup in 2009 and reached the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in 2010 and ODI World Cup in 2011. Pakistan’s on the field performances improved during this time and this included a Test victory over Australia after a span of 15 years. Younger players were introduced and some of them have succeeded and will form the backbone of Pakistani cricket in the years to come.
Overall however, Butt’s term marked such a low point in Pakistani cricket that haunt us for generations to come.

Butt’s replacement is another political appointee; Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf. He is the president of the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd and a very close confidante of Patron of the board, President Asif Ali Zardari.he is also the Co-Chairman of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, Punjab division and a member of the Central Executive Committee of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party.

Zaka Ashraf has already made tall claims in front of the media regarding his plans for the PCB:

"I will work day and night to live up to President Zardari's confidence. My top priority will be to improve Pakistan's cricket image and stop bookies and match-fixers. "People in both Pakistan and India love cricket so I will try to resume ties." 

We can only say that "One chunk replaced by another punk" how long will this continue!!!

Your comments are welcome as always!!

M.Wasi ullah khan