LAHORE, Aug 18: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf on Monday tendered his resignation from the post in a decision which was termed by critics as a hasty one since Pakistan is currently struggling to retain the hosting right of next month’s ICC Champions Trophy.

“Dr Nasim Ashraf has sent his resignation to the Presidency in Islamabad but we have no details about the reasons for the decision,” PCB Director Media, Mansoor Suhail told the reporters.

“We have no information whether the president (patron of the PCB) has accepted the resignation or not,” he added.

Mansoor said though it was Dr Ashraf’s own decision to quit the post, it was not likely to create any problems for the next month’s Champions Trophy as all preparations were in top gear.

PCB chief’s resignation came hours after president of Pakistan Gen (retd.) Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation at Islamabad. Dr Ashraf was one of Musharraf‘s closest friends and was at the helm of two big national institutions including the NCHD and the PCB.

Dr Nasim Ashraf took over the reins of the PCB on Oct 6, 2006 in place of Shaharyar Khan following an ugly controversy that saw senior batsman Younis Khan refusing the captaincy on the eve of the national team’s departure to India for the ICC Champions Trophy.

Dr Ashraf’s 22-month long tenure was replete with controversy, none bigger than the doping saga involving top fast bowling duo of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif in 2006 and the mysterious death of English coach Bob Woolmer during the World Cup.

Both Shoaib and Asif faced two and one year bans respectively for the offence. However, a PCB-appointed Appellate Tribunal later waived off the ban on both the bowlers for which the PCB received some harsh criticism from the local cricketing circles as well as from the ICC.

Both the bowlers were then suddenly withdrawn from the 2007 World Cup on the pretext of sustaining injuries but many suspected the motives behind the move after it was learnt that dope testing has been made mandatory by ICC for the mega event held in the Caribbeans.

Later, Pakistan cricket went through a huge turmoil in 2007 when the country suffered an embarrassing first round defeat in the World Cup in the West Indies and then all hell broke loose when their coach Bob Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room in Jamaica just hours after his team lost to minnows Ireland.

The PCB chief handed in his resignation soon afterwards but withdrew it about a week later after it was rejected by the patron.

That row was followed by another ugly situation when the chairman ordered the removal of about 80 PCB employees in the name of introducing corporate culture in the board. A hue and cry in the media, however, forced the chairman to withdraw the decision on humanitarian grounds within the next 48 hours.

The PCB was also blasted by critics for inflating the expenses as the staff strength rose to 700-plus from 350. It was an alarming increase in number of employees keeping in view that the PCB ran with just 30 members in 1998.

More recently, the poor management of the board was evident in the manner it handled the renovation of the Pindi Stadium and Gaddafi Stadium for the Champions Trophy. For a tournament that was awarded to Pakistan some five months ago, the PCB commenced the renovation work just a few weeks back which eventually resulted in axing of Pindi as the trophy venue by the ICC. The board had allocated a hefty amount of around Rs 400 million for the two projects but the work could not be completed in time for the mega event, earning embarrassment for the officials responsible.

The PCB also faltered badly in handling the case of middle-order batsman Mohammad Yousuf with the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL) after the prolific batsman was lured in by the Board Chairman himself to join the Indian Premier League (IPL).

As the ICL took the case to arbitration court in India, the PCB failed to get a good bargain for Yousuf, thus depriving him an appearance in IPL last May. Moreover, on the instruction of the BCCI, the PCB also banned more than 15 cricketers who joined the ICL, a decision which was not seen as a judicious one by the experts of the game.

Besdies this, the chairman’s decision to sack its Director World Cup-2011 organising committee Salim Altaf, a former Test bowler, for leaking out confidential information also backfired as the Supreme Court gave its verdict in Salim’s favour.

The recent rows involving disciplinary ban and fine on Shoaib Akhtar as well as Mohammad Asif’s involvement in a drug case in Dubai have only added to PCB’s woes.

The appointment of all-rounder Shoaib Malik as captain as well as that of hiring ex-Australia pacer Geoff Lawson as the national team coach have also earned a lot of flak for PCB. While Malik has been criticised by former and current cricketers for his inability to motivate the team, Lawson’s contribution as coach has not been substantial so far, especially when one considers the fact that he was selected ahead of the more experienced Dav Whatmore who was rejected by PCB in face of player-power.

The growing differences of the captain and coach with the selection committee has also been a disturbing factor in the recent months. The issue has not been smartly handled by the board and has created a lot of bad blood among the two sections. The PCB chairman time and again attempted to defuse the tension among the concern parties without much success while the falling graph of the national team continued to irk the fans in the country.

The high point of Dr Ashraf’s stint was Pakistan’s good showing in the inaugural World Twenty20 Championship in South Africa where they reached the final against old rivals India and fell just short of lifting the title.

The successful holding of the Asia Cup this year in Lahore and Karachi also brought tremendous accolades to the PCB and convinced the ICC to back Pakistan as the hosts of next month’s Champions Trophy.