PCB chairman Ramiz Raja likely to be replaced - reports

Ramiz Raja is likely to be removed as the Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman, following the national team’s home Test series defeat to England.
 
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Pakistan are trailing 0-2 in the ongoing three-match Test series against England.

As per reports, Ramiz Raja could lose his position as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), following the team’s defeats in the first two Tests against England recently. There has been a speculation that a lobby, led by former disgruntled members of the governing body, has launched a campaign to have Ramiz removed from the post.

Ramiz has been serving as the PCB chairman since September 2021, and had been nominated by the then PM and his former international captain Imran Khan.

Najam Sethi is primed to replace Ramiz in the role, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif too, having hinted at the same, as per reports.

"Yes, something is definitely going on. Rumors are strong that Najam Sethi who recently met with the premier at a function in Lahore might be called up to replace Ramiz as Chairman," a former PCB member said.

“PCB’s constitution of 2014 should be restored. After its restoration, departmental sports will be revived,” said sources, quoting the premier.

Meanwhile, Ramiz reflected on Pakistan’s back-to-back defeats against England, the side they had gone down to in the T20 World Cup 2022 final last month.

“When you lose two matches in a row, there are a couple of negative things that can happen - either there could be a negative mindset or there could be a negative environment in the dressing room. But this team has shown neither. So credit to them,” Raja said.

“Our Test cricket pool is very limited. We want the players to make their debut at home and none of them were bad debuts. We saw how good Saud Shakeel batted. And had they not given that down-the-leg-side-catch out, we would have won the Test. If the last five batters tend to score at least 10-15 runs then we can improve a lot."

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