'It's a big challenge' - Interim PCB head Najam Sethi on repairing the damage done to Pakistan Cricket

Najam Sethi (Source: Twitter)

Pakistan Cricket Board is going under massive changes as the country’s government recently removed Ramiz Raja from the chairman's post at the PCB. A 14-member committee, headed by Najam Sethi, has been appointed to run the affairs of the game for the next four months. The Pakistan government, through a notification last week, removed Raja following the team's 3-0 whitewash by England in the Test series. The notification, issued by Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, has to be approved by the federal cabinet, which is just a formality.

The cricket board elections are to be held within the next four months. The interim head Najam Sethi, who has been the PCB chairman earlier too, has said that the cricket body is not in a good shape.

“When I was sent to the PCB initially, I did not want to do this. I was told to go there for three months and make a new constitution. It was the court's ruling. We made the constitution but again the issue kept getting stuck in legal hurdles. After one year I thought, okay let's take the challenge. The first major one was PSL. We succeeded in that. When the new government came (under Imran Khan), I thought they would be right to bring that own guys. Our wavelength was different," Najam Sethi said in an interview uploaded on Pakistan Cricket's YouTube channel.

Now, we have to repair this damage: Najam Sethi

"Whatever they did is in front of us. Now, we have to repair this damage. It's a big challenge. It's 10 times bigger challenge than setting up PSL. Itni tabahi hui hai yaha (there has been so much destruction). I am getting sleepless nights to undo the whole structure and get it running,” Sethi added.

Ramiz Raja served as PCB chairman for 15 months after he was appointed by former premier Imran Khan to head the board in September 2021.

Sethi was the chairman and CEO of the PCB between 2013-2018 and resigned soon after Imran and his party won the 2018 general elections.