PCB’s new chairman Najam Sethi opens up about the future of India vs Pakistan bilateral clashes

Najam Sethi, the newly appointed chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), immediately got to work by outlining his position on the bilateral cricketing relations between Pakistan and India. Sethi, who took over the PCB on Thursday after Ramiz Raja was fired, has been named as the chairman of the 14-member committee in charge of overseeing Pakistan’s cricket operations for the next four months.

Since ACC chairman and Indian Cricket Board secretary Jay Shah announced that India won’t travel to Pakistan for next year’s Asia Cup and that the tournament will be moved to a neutral venue, the PCB and Indian Cricket Board have been at odds. Raja had later threatened to boycott the ODI World Cup that is to be held in India in the second half of 2023.

“Governments in both countries have to be consulted when it comes to bilateral and other cricket relations between Pakistan and India,” Sethi told reporters in Lahore.

Sethi, who served as chairman and CEO from 2013 to 2018 before stepping down after the Imran Khan-led government took office in 2018, seemed dissatisfied with the selection of the Pakistan Test squad by the previous administration for the home series against New Zealand.

“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.

What has happened in the last four years everyone can see: Najam Sethi

The management committee was officially established by the government on Wednesday night, and Ramiz Raja was fired in the process. However, the current chief selector Muhammad Wasim announced the team for the NZ series. Sethi made it abundantly clear that the Board would undergo changes, including those pertaining to cricket.

“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 said.