'Dushman Mulk' fame Zaka Ashraf resigns as chairman of PCB's CMC

Lahore: The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) Cricket Management Committee, Zaka Ashraf, has stepped down from the post just two weeks before his extension was to expire.

On the day Pakistan team landed in India to play World Cup in September last year, the PCB announced a pay hike for its players. Following that, Ashraf had said the raise in the central contracts will provide extra motivation to the players going into the World Cup in an "enemy country".

Zaka had been heading the CMC since July and the government gave it an extension in November until February 4, but on Friday, Zaka submitted his resignation.

He announced his resignation at the meeting of the CMC in Lahore.

During his rocky tenure, the Pakistan team faltered in the Asia Cup and World Cup and faced a spate of defeats including their fourth straight loss in the ongoing T20 series in Christchurch, New Zealand.

More importantly, neither the CMC headed by Zaka nor the one led by Najam Sethi was able to complete the task of forming a Board of Governors and hold election for the post of a permanent chairman.

Even the government, through its ministry of inter provincial coordination (sports), had expressed its displeasure with the working of the board under the outgoing chairman.

The resignation came just three days after the ministry stopped Zaka from holding a CMC meeting wherein he was supposed to form the Board of Governors (BoGs), which is the first step to hold the elections of PCB chairman for a three-year term.

In the meeting, Ashraf highlighted the "milestones" accomplished during his tenure, including a "significant increase" in PCB contributions from the ICC, the visit of the Indian cricket board officials to Pakistan, the home team securing the number one spot in ICC one-day international rankings, Pakistan hosting the Asia Cup after 15 years, and reaching an accord with Cricket Australia (CA) on player development.

The members were briefed on the PCB affairs and financial matters, the statement added.