PCB elects Pakistan media mogul as chairman

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed Mohsin Naqvi as the chairman for a three-year term after the election held at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. The board announced on Tuesday, February 6, stating he was elected unopposed by the Board of Governors of the PCB as the 37th chairman.

Naqvi, the interim Chief Minister of the State of Punjab, expressed his delight upon his appointment and is extremely excited to take up the role to become a part of PCB's progress. 
 
"I am deeply honoured and humbled to have been unanimously elected as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board. I am thankful for the trust and confidence reposed in me. I am fully committed to upgrading the standard of the game in the country and bringing professionalism in the administration of cricket in Pakistan," Naqvi was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

In addition to his job as PCB chairman, Naqvi will remain Punjab's interim chief minister. A caretaker government in Pakistan is only allowed to hold office for a maximum of three months while the country gets ready for new elections as per Pakistani laws. Naqvi, on the other hand, was appointed in January 2023, several months after Pakistan's elections were postponed. His first assignment as chairman was to oversee the upcoming season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which begins on February 17. 

Since December 2022, the PCB has been acting without a full-time chairman following the sacking of Ramiz Raja, a former national captain and the preferred candidate of the then-prime minister Imran Khan. Since then, Najam Sethi and Zaka Ashraf, respectively, have taken over as temporary chairmanships.

Naqvi has no prior experience playing cricket or working in cricket administration. With Ehsan Mani and Ramiz Raja as the exception rather than the rule, Najam Sethi nor Zaka Ashraf, the two individuals who held that office earlier, also did not have any experience before being initially appointed. In addition, 45-year-old Naqvi is regarded as a media mogul who trained at CNN in the United States. Moreover, having previously worked for the American news network, he currently runs 24 News, a channel in Pakistan.