BCCI threatened us for opposing ‘Big Three’ plans: Zaka

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BCCI threatened us for opposing ‘Big Three’ plans: Zaka​

LAHORE: Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf on Sunday alleged that he was threatened by the Board for Cricket Control in India (BCCI) for opposing the structural overhaul of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

“They were threats directed at Pakistan but our stance was clear,” Zaka said while addressing a gathering here. “But in the governance issue obviously our stance was clear and we could not support anything that went against our interests and our cricket,” he stated, adding that Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and South Africa didn’t have the fortitude to stand against the highly controversial ICC revamp proposal.

The dominant trio, or the ‘Big Three’, seemed to be the big winners after the proposals were approved by the necessary eight out of 10 full members at a hastily convened ICC Executive Board meeting in Singapore.

After returning from Singapore, Zaka was removed from his post last week by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the PCB patron, and was replaced by Najam Sethi who now heads a management committee in the Board.

Pakistan had abstained from the voting in the ICC board meeting in which the ‘Big Three’ – India, Australia and England – got a majority of the powers in the sport’s world governing body.

Zaka said the PCB governing board was twice taken into confidence regarding Pakistan’s official stance on the issue and their stance was clear that Pakistan should not support the structural changes.

As chairman, Zaka added, he had always tried to have a cordial working relationship with India and pushed for the resumption of bilateral ties.

“That is why to show goodwill we agreed to send our team to India last December for the short [limited-overs] series without any financial rewards for us,” Zaka expressed, adding Pakistan tried to have a working relationship with India but Pakistan will not agree on anything against its national interest and its cricket.

The former PCB chairman insisted that there should be no politics in cricket and whatever work he had done as the chairman was done in the best interest of the country, adding that he had no personal agenda whatsoever.

Talking about the constitution of the PCB, Zaka commented that it was the responsibility of the government to make the laws not the PCB’s.—Agencies

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