Ramiz Raja has been removed as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman by the country's government, which has appointed a 14-member committee, headed by Najam Sethi, to run the affairs of the game for the next four months.
A day after his appointment, Sethi addressed the media in Lahore, where he made it clear that he would act on the advice of the government when it comes to cricket relations with India.
"Governments in both countries have to be consulted when it comes to bilateral and other cricket relations between Pakistan and India," Sethi told reporters on Thursday (December 22).
India and Pakistan continue to lock horns in multi-nation tournaments but they haven’t faced each other in a bilateral series since 2012-13 because of political hostility.
While Pakistan last toured India for the T20 World Cup in 2016, India have not visited Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup.
Pakistan have the hosting rights of the Asia Cup 2023, but BCCI secretary Jay Shah recently mentioned that India will not travel and the event would be shifted to a neutral venue.
In response, PCB said that alteration to the Asia Cup might see them opt out of the 50-over World Cup in India next October and November.
On a separate note, Najam Sethi expressed his desire to fully implement the 2014 constitution and revive the Board of Governors and General Body under the old system and hold elections within 120 days.
Sethi, who relinquished his PCB chairman post in 2018 when Imran Khan took charge as the Prime Minister, also seemed unhappy with the announcement of the Pakistan Test squad for the upcoming home series against New Zealand by the old management.
"I don't know whether there is a need to make changes in the squad, we will see if fresh ideas are required. It would have been better if the squad had not been announced,” he said.
Sethi hinted that there would be changes in the Board, including in cricket-related areas.
“I think we had done a good job in our four-five year tenure before I resigned. But what has happened in the last four years everyone can see,” he stated.
Najam Sethi further said that the country's prime minister wanted a restoration of departmental teams and the regional cricket associations.
“That is our main priority to revive departmental cricket because in the last four years we have seen a terrible rise in unemployment and a famine in cricket talent. The old system worked well for us and we got players from domestic cricket. Nowadays it seems we are only getting players from PSL,” he remarked.
Sethi concluded by saying that all the groundwork for launching the Pakistan Super League and bringing international cricket back to Pakistan was done in his last stint.
“It is good that all teams are now touring Pakistan and the New Zealand team's tour is very important for us. But we also have to ensure a steady supply of talent from our domestic cricket,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
