PCB chief sacked, Zafar takes over

ISLAMABAD, OCT 26: Pakistani military authorities today sacked Mujeebur Rehman as the ad-hoc chairman of the country's cricket board and ...

ISLAMABAD, OCT 26: Pakistani military authorities today sacked Mujeebur Rehman as the ad-hoc chairman of the country8217;s cricket board and appointed former Test player and National selector Zafar Altaf as the new chief.President Muhammad Rafiq Tarar, patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board, issued the orders appointing Altaf as the new PCB chairman and asking him to add at least three members to the new set-up to run the affairs of cricket in the country.

The appointment of Altaf as the new PCB chief was very much on the cards after the board became virtually rudderless following the sudden disappearance of Rehman in the wake of the army coup on October 12. Rehman, who was close to deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is either under custody of the army authorities or has gone underground, according to media reports. An earlier report had said that Rehman had been spotted inside Sharif8217;s house when the army entered it.

Altaf becomes the third Chief of PCB since last July. In the wake of an outcryagainst the Pakistani team for its loss to Australia in the final of the World Cup, the previous government had sacked earlier chairman Khalid Mahmood and his entire team and appointed a two-members ad-hoc committee under Rehman to look after the affairs of PCB.

With the appointment of Altaf as full-time chairman, the new military rulers have done away with the ad-hoc arrangement made by Nawaz Sharif government.Immediately after taking over, the PCB chief indicated that he would try to honour all international commitments made by the previous management but also criticised the busy schedule of the team, which he said is having a negative effect on the physical fitness of the players.

He told The News that the international commitments will be honoured but any future commitments would be 8220;player friendly8221;.

8220;It is hard to believe how a player can adjust to the overburden of international commitments. One day you are playing limited overs cricket in one country, the other day you start travelling toanother country to play Test matches. It is asking too much from the players and this is the reason that even batsmen have started sustaining groin injuries,8221; Altaf said.But he said his immediate task would be to settle some tour problems with the West Indian and Sri Lankan boards.

On the controversial issue of match-fixing the new PCB chief said the decision in this regard would be taken on the basis of the report of the judicial commission which has already been submitted to President Tarar but added any action would be taken only after the ongoing Australian tour of the Pakistan team.