ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan has nominated Ehsan Mani as the newchairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
The decision came just hours after the ex PCB chairman, Najam Sethiresigned from the post claiming that he was just ‘waiting for the new PrimeMinister to take oath before submitting resignation as the PCB chairman’.
It is important to note here that the step taken by Imran Khan is one ofhis first official moves after taking oath as Pakistan’s newest PrimeMinister.
It is safe to say that Pakistan Cricket truly flourished under Najam Sethibut Khan promised that he would make changes and appoint deserved new facesaccording ‘to merit’ and since Najam Sethi had no qualification orbackground to run Pakistani Cricket he had to be removed.
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*With Ehsan Mani now been appointed as the new head, everyone is asking thesame question: “Who is Ehsan Mani?*
Ehsan Mani has been in and around the Cricketing circuit for quite sometime now and even though he has not remained in the limelight mainlybecause of his anti-politics approach, he has remained a prominent memberof the International Cricket Council.
Ehsan Mani first represented the PCB from 1989 to 1996 after which he waselected by the ICC member nations to the position of Chairman of the ICCFinance and Marketing Committee mainly because of his ‘trusting and honestnature’. Mani remained as the Chairman until the year 2002 when the ICCdissolved the position altogether.
Mani also acted as the PCB representative in the advisory committee for theCricket World Cup tournaments of 1996 and 1999.
Ehsan Mani took over as the Vice President (VP) of the ICC Executive Boardin 2002. Apart from this, Ehsan Mani also served in a number of committeessuch as the Chairman s Advisory Committee, set up to advice Lord Cowdreyand Sir Clyde Walcott.
Other committees he has been a part of were the Rules Review Committee andthe Governance and Organisation Committee.
Imran’s newest appointee saw the highest point of his career when he wasappointed the President of the International Cricket Council in 2003. EhsanMani served as the head for three years before he stepped down in 2006.
Like Imran Khan said earlier, he knows Ehsan Mani personally. It is alsointeresting to note here that Ehsan Mani is also one of the members of theShaukat Khanum Memorial Trust’s Board of Governors.
Being one of the best Cricketers the world has ever seen himself, PrimeMinister Imran Khan would have thought long and hard into making thedecision of nominating Mani as the new chairman but will the decision bearfruit? Only time will tell.