Majid to head PCB's ad-hoc committee

Karachi:

Former Test captain Majid Khan is likely to head an ad-hoc committee that will run Pakistan's cricket affairs over the next few months, official sources said on Tuesday.

Sources said the Sports Ministry had sent a summary to the Prime Minister seeking approval for appointment of the ad-hoc committee after Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Nasim Ashraf submitted his resignation to the President.

"A number of former Test players including Majid, Imran Khan, Wasim Bari, Javed Miandad and Ejaz Butt have been invited for a meeting at the Sports Ministry on Wednesday in which the ad-hoc committee will be given final shape," one source said.

Television channels also ran a report announcing that the Prime Minister had suspended the PCB constitution but later this was denied by the press secretary of the Premier and also a senior official of the board.

"We don't know anything about the constitution being suspended by the Sports Ministry. The Board is working normally," PCB Chief Operating Officer Shafqat Naghmi said.

The Board comes under the preview of the President who is also the chief patron of the PCB. With the exit of President Pervez Musharraf, sources say, that only the acting President or newly elected President can suspend or amend the constitution.

Sources said the Sports Ministry was expected to announce a three member ad-hoc committee headed by Majid and including probably Wasim Bari and former board Chairman, Lt General (retd) Tauqir Zia who is now with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party.

"They are still some other candidates in the run to be on the ad-hoc committee among them Dr Zafar Altaf a former bureaucrat and selector and Dr Mohammad Ali Shah President of the Karachi City Association (KCCA)."

Sources in the PCB said Ashraf was expecting his resignation to be accepted in the next 48 hours but he had advised everyone in the board to follow his example and resign.

"Some officials in the board asked Ashraf that they wanted to resign with him but he told them not to do this and wait for the government to take its next decision," one source said.