"Politics should not be mixed up in cricket": Ramiz Raja on being ousted as PCB chairman
Dec 27, 2022
Lahore [Pakistan], December 27 : Ramiz Raja has called the Pakistan government's move to remove him as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chair after just one year into his three-year term "political interference".
Ramiz Raja was removed from the post of chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Former PCB chief Najam Sethi returned as head of a committee that will also include former Pakistan skippers Shahid Afridi and Sana Mir.
"Politics should not be mixed up in cricket. This is a game of cricketers and a playing field for them. Some people come from outside the circle, and to adjust one person [Sethi], they had to change the entire constitution. I have "Politics should not be mixed up in cricket": Ramiz Raja on being ousted as PCB chairman," Ramiz said on his YouTube channel.
"There is etiquette to do things and it has been done in the middle of the season when teams are visiting Pakistan. Then you have changed the chief selector [Mohammad Wasim] regardless of him doing good or bad. He has played Test cricket for Pakistan, and you should make them leave with respect," Ramiz said.
The new committee will have 120 days to amend the PCB constitution, replacing the 2019 version with the 2014 version. According to the 2014 constitution, the committee will be in charge of choosing a chairman and creating a board of governors.
"And then he [Sethi] tweets late in the night at that Ramiz is gone. It hurts because I have played for Pakistan. It has been made out as if a messiah [Sethi] has come, who will take the game to new heights. We know what are the motives behind it. They love the entitlement and want the limelight otherwise they have nothing to do with cricket, and they have never lifted a bat. They have changed the set-up in the middle of the season, they are bringing back Micky Arthur. Saqlain Mushtaq's tenure was ending anyway in January. Saqlain has played over 50 [49] Tests, he is a legend. This is no way to treat cricketers," he further added.
Ramiz Raja and his Board were recently ousted by the Pakistani government after the PCB's 2019 constitution was revoked and a 14-member committee chaired by Sethi was given full executive authority to work on restoring the department structure, which had been eliminated in 2019 after Imran Khan was elected as the nation's prime minister (the PM of Pakistan is the PCB's patron-in-chief).
All committees established under the defunct 2019 constitution, including the selection committee, were dismissed on Friday by the new PCB management committee which took office on Thursday.
