Ramiz Raja Set To Be Removed As Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman: Report

File image of Ramiz Raja© Twitter

Ramiz Raja is set to be removed from the post of chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), according to a report by ESPNCricinfo on Wednesday. Several other media reports also claimed that Raja, who became the PCB chairman in September 2021, has either been sacked or will be sacked soon. However, there was no official annuoncement regarding the same till late Wednesday.

According to the ESPNcricinfo report, the removal of the current board has been initiated by the patron of the board and Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif. A 14-member management committee, headed by former board head and prominent media analyst Najam Sethi, and including former Pakistan captains Shahid Afridi and Sana Mir is expected to take interim charge of affairs, added the report.

Raja has till recently come under heavy criticism after Pakistan lost a Test series 0-3 against England at home. He also received flak for the quality of pitches in that series. Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium’s pitch, which hosted the first Test of that series, received a second successive demerit point after the lifeless track yielded 1,786 runs across four innings of the first Test between Pakistan and England last week.

Raja himself called the pitch “embarrassing”, adding it was not a good advert for Test cricket

Under Raja’s tenure, Pakistan team got two high-profile tours from Australia and England. It reached in semifinal of 2021 T20 World Cup and final of 2022 edition of the tournament. It also reached the final of Asia Cup.