CricketViewer.com

With another turn of events at PCB, Shaharyar Khan has resigned as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, following an acrimonious two-month period which began with the Oval debacle in August, and culminated in Younis Khan’s departure as captain yesterday. Dr Naseem Ashraf, a government adviser and a member of the board’s ad-hoc committee, is set to take over the role.

“I am hurt because of the recent events like the Oval Test and Younis Khan fiascos,” Shaharyar told AFP. “I thought this is the right time to step down and pass the responsibility to someone else. The Younis episode has hurt me more than the Oval fiasco.”

It is thought that the president of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, who is also the Patron of the PCB, intervened amidst increasing criticism over the way Shaharyar has handled affairs recently. In particular, the Oval forfeit and the way the board handled the affair has been slammed throughout the country. Younis’s resignation, and the accompanying murmurs that he was unhappy with the chairman and officials in the board, appears to have been the last straw. Shaharyar’s tenure as chairman was due to end in December 2006.

Worryingly, sources within the PCB suggest that more unrest cannot be ruled out. Another change in captaincy, after the dramatic events of yesterday, is not off the cards and changes in the administration are also expected. As the team is due to depart early Saturday afternoon for India for the Champions Trophy, there appears little time for anything major.