PCB’s new chairman Zaka Ashraf.—File photo

LAHORE: After exactly 28 days, the vacant post of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman will finally be filled on Friday when the newly-appointed Mohammad Zaka Ashraf takes over in place of Ijaz Butt.

The entire regular staff of the Board has been asked to be present at the Gaddafi Stadium to welcome the new chairman.

On Oct 13, the PCB’s patron-in-chief President Asif Ali Zardari issued a notification to officially announce the appointment of Zaka, one of his close friends, as the new head of the PCB.

However, the addition of a clause in the notification later stopped Zaka from immediately joining the PCB and said he must resign from his original organization, the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) first to assume charge at the Board.

Though it is unconfirmed whether he has resigned from ZTBL, it is confirmed that Zaka will be officially joining the PCB on Friday.

“The new chairman is scheduled to come to the PCB offices on Friday,” PCB General Manager Media Nadeem Sarwar said on Thursday.

However, the official website of the ZTBL is still listing Zaka as its president. Though Zaka enjoys a good reputation as a businessman, his assignment as the new PCB chief is likely to prove a challenging one for him as he has no experience whatsoever to run a sports body of this magnitude.

In the past, a number of high-profile individuals including Lt Gen (retd) Tauqir Zia, Shaharyar M Khan, Dr Nasim Ashraf and Ijaz Butt found the PCB job hard to manage, mainly because it required them to tackle the unique problems of dealing with the temperamental superstars of the game, the idiosyncratic chief selectors and head strong coaches who created controversies at the drop of a hat.

Also, thorny issues such as growing concerns of international teams regarding security in Pakistan as well as constantly putting up with the tough stance of the International Cricket Council (ICC) on almost all major issues can be quite a headache for Zaka, as it was for his predecessors.

For example, all the member countries of the ICC have agreed on a recent amendment which binds all boards to appoint elected chairmen after 2013. That can make things difficult for Zaka since he has been appointed by the PCB patron.