LAHORE: In a significant change of guard at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Wasim Khan on Wednesday stepped down as chief executive — the third notable change witnessed in the new regime headed by newly-elected chairman Ramiz Raja.

A few days after Ramiz’s name was nominated by PCB’s patron-in-chief Imran Khan as member of the BoG earlier this month, a clear message that he will be the next chairman, head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis tendered their resignations. More changes are expected in the coming days, which is nothing but a tradition that repeats whenever a new PCB chief comes in.

In a fast developing situation on Wednesday morning, the PCB made an officially announcement that Wasim, 50, had resigned. Then in the afternoon an emergency of the Board of Governors (BoG) was summoned to decide on the chief executive’s resignation while four months were still left in his three-year contract which was to end in February 2022.

“The Board of Governors of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) today met via video conference in which they unanimously accepted the resignation of Chief Executive Wasim Khan, who had joined the PCB on a three-year contract on Feb 1, 2019,” the PCB said in a statement after the BoG meeting on Wednesday.

Following the meeting, PCB chairman Ramiz said: “During his time with the PCB, Wasim Khan provided excellent leadership, particularly following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic when very little information was available and precise decision-making was required to ensure cricket remained unaffected and continued to be played at the domestic and international levels.

“The PCB owes Wasim Khan a debt of gratitude for his good leadership and we wish him well in his future plans and career endeavours,” the statement quoted the PCB chief as saying.

Speaking at the meeting, Wasim sounded satisfied with his stint at the PCB.

“It has been an honour and a privilege to serve the PCB and hugely satisfying to see the resumption of Test cricket with Sri Lanka playing Tests in Rawalpindi and Karachi, and the homecoming of the HBL Pakistan Super League during the last two years,” he said.

“When I arrived in 2019, there was a real need to build relationships and restore and enhance the global image and reputation of the PCB and Pakistan cricket. With decisive and strategic decision-making, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, we succeeded in earning the goodwill and respect of the global cricketing family, which I am hopefully it will lead to increased international cricket being hosted in Pakistan in future.

“With a five-year strategy in place, new domestic structure in its third season and the investment in women’s cricket in an upward direction, I feel it is the right time to move on and reunite with my young family. They have sacrificed a lot so that I could fulfill my dreams of contributing to Pakistan cricket, which will always remain very close to my heart,” Wasim added.

“I am grateful to have worked with all our fantastic commercial partners and the passionate people at the PCB. I would also like to thank each and every one of my staff for supporting me as well as the Pakistan men and women players, and the Pakistan cricket fans.

“Lastly, I want to wish PCB chairman Ramiz Raja the very best during his tenure, I am sure there will be exciting times ahead for Pakistan cricket under his leadership,” Wasim concluded.

A PCB spokesman said though Wasim was interested in an extension after ending the first three-year tenure in February 2022, everyone had the right to assess and evaluate his position under the current situation, so he might have changed his mind to prefer his family, instead of continuing with the PCB. Wasim’s family is living in Birmingham.

The spokesman dispelled the impression that as the new PCB chairman was applying pay cut in the salaries, Wasim preferred to quit. It may be mentioned here that Mani’s regime introduced high-pay packages under which Wasim was getting a monthly salary in millions of rupees. Hefty pay packages were also given to Misbah-ul-Haq as head coach and chief selector, Waqar Younis (bowling coach) and others hired by the Mani-led management.

The PCB did not share the details of these heavy pay packages even with the National Assembly and Senate Standing Committees on Sports, despite several warnings from them.

To a question, the PCB spokesman said — besides chairman and chief financial officer — the post of CEO was also constitutional.

It may be mentioned here that as the chief executive was enjoying great powers on more than 50 counts, equally shared with the PCB chairman, a man appointed by the previous chairman may not be acceptable to new chairman Ramiz.

Interestingly, family commitments has been cited as a reason behind the resignation. It is pertinent to mention here that seven months ago, the Birmingham-born Wasim had requested the previous chairman that he was interested in extension in his tenure when the first one will expire in February.

Then PCB chairman Mani kept the request pending saying as his own three-year tenure will have expired in August 2021, it is better that his request be entertained by the next chairman, whosoever, will be. But Wasim has decided to separate himself from the PCB immediately after a new chairman came in.

During Wasim’s PCB stint, with Mani as chairman, Pakistan cricket saw a number of ups and downs.

The country’s domestic structure was completely transformed after abolishing the role of departments, and the overhaul resulted in many departmental cricketers on the domestic circuit losing their jobs

Meanwhile the franchise-based Pakistan Super League (PSL) T20 competition, which had become a successful brand before Mani and Wasim came in, also faced setbacks during the past three years time when all the six franchise owners moved the Lahore High Court against PCB’s policies that caused great financial losses to them. The 2020 and 2021 editions of PSL faced setbacks due to Covid-19 pandemic that exposed a number of flaws in the administration of the event, particularly in 2021, when several Covid cases emerged during the Karachi leg of PSL, leading the contests to stop midway.

Several curators and groundsmen across Pakistan also became jobless as a result of reforming the domestic structure — previously consisting of 16 teams (eight regions and as many departments) — which now has six provincial associations.

Furthermore the new PCB constitution, which was introduced in August 2019, could not be made fully functional.

The registration of clubs is still ongoing, which is essential to form elected bodies of the country’s 92 city cricket associations and afterwards to get six provincial cricket associations elected.

International cricket in Pakistan, which had seen resumption back in 2015, continued its gradual comeback during Wasim’s time in office before stunning tour cancellations by New Zealand (security concerns) and England (players’ tiredness) recently brought Pakistan as hosts of international cricket back to square one.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2021