LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board’s interim Management Comm­ittee has been granted a two-month extension by the board’s patron Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The notification to confirm the extension was issued on Sunday by the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coord­ination (IPC), a PCB statement said a day later.

The Najam Sethi-led Committee was formed in December last year following instructions from the prime minister’s office, which saw former PCB chairman Ramiz Raja ousted and the board’s 2019 constitution revoked and replaced by the 2014 charter.

The PM Office back then had defined a four-month tenure for the Management Committee, two months less than what the current constitution requires in case of dissolution of the body’s Board of Governors.

The mandate of the Committee includes the restoration of the departmental cricket in the domestic structure, elections at the district, zonal and regional level and composition of a

democratic and elected Board of Governors. According to the PCB “significant work has already taken place” in this regard.

“While a number of departments have confirmed their return to the domestic structure, election process at the district/zonal/regional level has recently picked up pace following last month’s appointment of the independent Election Commissioner by the PCB Patron Prime Ministe,” read the board’s press release..

“Once the elections process at the district/zonal/regional level has been completed, a Board of Governors will be constituted.

“This will include four elected regional presidents, four departmental appointees and two PCB Patron nominees, who, in turn, will elect the Chairman of the PCB.

“It is anticipated the entire process for the revival of the 2014 PCB Constitution will be completed within the next 60 days.”

The notification was issued in response to a summary dispatched to the Prime Minister on April 20 by the IPC ministry, which recommended an extension of two to four weeks to the tenure of the interim Management Committee.

The ministry, through another letter — dated April 13 — requested the premier to name his two nominees to contest the elections for the post of the PCB chairman.

Dawn had reported on Saturday that the Board of Governors will be constituted within the next two weeks with a good number of departments committed to form their teams according to the 2014 constitution.

Once the Board of Governors is complete, four elected presidents of the regions and as many departments affiliated with the PCB cast their votes to elect PCB chairman

During Imran Khan’s reign as the prime minister from 2018 to 2022, the PCB adopted the 2019 constitution, which saw departments and regions replaced by six provincial association sides. Imran had also instructed

departments to close down their sport wings, which led to many athletes lose their jobs.

Since Shehbaz took office after Imran’s ouster through a no-confidence vote in April last year, the incumbent PM revoked his predecessor’s move to restore departments in sports and eventually instructed the restoration of PCB’s 2014 constitution.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2023