Sharif sacks Ashraf as PCB chief

Karachi: In another stunning twist in Pakistan`s cricket administration, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has sacked Zaka Ashraf as the Chairman of the PCB and suspended the Governing board with immediate effect.

In a notification issued by the ministry of inter provincial coordination, the Prime Minister, in his capacity as patron in chief of the board, has appointed an 11-member ad-hoc committee to run the cricket affairs. The ad-hoc committee includes former Test players Zaheer Abbas and Iqbal Qasim and former Chairmen of the board, Shaharyar Khan and Najam Sethi. "The committee will nominate a Chairman to head the ad-hoc administration," the notification said. Shakil Sheikh a member of the ad-hoc committee said Zaka Ashraf had been dismissed on different charges mainly financial mismanagement and mishandling Pakistan`s stance in the Big three issue at the ICC level. Zaka was reinstated as Chairman of the board last month by the Islamabad high court. A single bench of the IHC had in May, 2013 removed him as Chairman after which he filed an appeal.