Zaka Ashraf Resigns As Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman

In a shocking development, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf has resigned from his post. Ashraf took over as the chairman of PCB in July last year and replaced Najam Sethi. This is Ashraf’s second tenure as the chairman of the PCB and his recent tenure is considered to be one of the worst in the history of Pakistan Cricket.

The Pakistani team have not been in great form in international cricket since Zaka Ashraf took over as the chairman of the PCB. Pakistan were knocked from the Asia Cup and ODI World Cup 2023 whereas they have lost seven matches on the trot against Australia and New Zealand.

Zaka Ashraf has resigned as the Chairman PCB Management Committee. He took charge on 7th July last year, his tenure is considered to be the worst period of Pakistan cricket

— Mirza Iqbal Baig (@mirzaiqbal80) January 19, 2024

There is a lot of instability in the Pakistan Cricket Board and they are almost in the headlines with any or other new conflict every day. Ashraf also made headlines with the statements that he made during the ODI World Cup and called India an ‘enemy’ nation.

However, under Zaka Ashraf‘s tenure, the Pakistani team management went under a huge change wherein from the chief selector to the director of the team, all were replaced. The Pakistani team has not had the best of times in international cricket in the last few months. Pakistan were whitewashed by Australia in the three-match Test series earlier this month whereas they have also lost the first four matches of the T20I series against New Zealand.

Under Zaka Ashraf’s tenure, Babar Azam also resigned from the captaincy position of Pakistan from all the formats. There were also speculations that Ashraf had forced Babar to resign from the captaincy of Pakistan. Babar’s chat with PCB COO Salman Badami was also leaked a few days back.

Apart from all these controversies, the Pakistani players have tried to contact Zaka Ashraf various times and urged him to release the salaries of the players. However, the former Pakistan cricketer, Rashid Latif revealed that Ashraf has stopped taking the calls of Babar Azam.

Zaka Ashraf took over as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board when they lost the hosting rights of the Asia Cup. However, he had no contribution to organising the Asia Cup under the hybrid model when Pakistan got the chance to host four games whereas the rest 11 matches were played in Sri Lanka.

The Pakistani team has a bunch of problems that they need to address ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024. Babar Azam’s form ahead of the tournament is the biggest problem for Pakistan ahead of the major ICC tournament. Babar has not been able to perform against big teams whereas pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi’s performance in the last few games is also a great matter of concern.

The poor fielding of Pakistan is still another significant issue. The team was careless on the pitch and missed a lot of catches during the ODI World Cup 2023. Pakistan lost games as a result of their inability to exert pressure on the opposition.