KARACHI, Feb 17: Glowing tributes were paid to former president and patron of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) the late Dr Syed Mohammad Ali Shah by the KCCA executive council during a meeting held under the presidentship of Prof Syed Siraj-ul-Islam Bukhari late on Saturday here at the KCCA office.

The members eulogised Dr Shah for his multifarious activities regarding promotion of sports particularly cricket and its infrastructure in every corner of Sindh, said a statement issued on Sunday.

On the occasion, the KCCA elected Dr Shah’s son and former first-class cricketer Dr Junaid Ali Shah as vice-president of the association.

The council also expressed dissatisfaction over Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) neglect of the KCCA by not nominating its president as member of the PCB governing board, recalling it was KCCA president’s rightful place, but the PCB taking unconstitutional step made little-known Manzoor Boghio president of the newly-formed Larkana region whose team has yet to make debut in first-class cricket.

It is pertinent to mention that the KCCA president was supposed to be nominated as member of the PCB governing body in November 2011 but his nomination was delayed until March 2012. However, he has now been deprived of the honour.

The council also recalled that a KCCA delegation met PCB chairman in 2011 and had asked him to restore permanent place of Karachi and Lahore on the PCB governing board, a request the council claimed Zaka had accepted at the time.

It also reiterated appeal to President Asif Ali Zardari, the Patron of the PCB, to rename the National Stadium Karachi as Dr Mohammad Ali Shah Stadium in view of his unparalleled services to cricket in Pakistan.—APP