Najam Sethi is a Pakistani journalist, businessman, and cricket administrator, currently serving as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board
First Term
The Pakistan Cricket Board needed an interim chairman while a matter involving the current chairman, Zaka Ashraf, was being heard by the Islamabad High Court, therefore the acting chairman was chosen by Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister at the time.
Later, Zaka Ashraf was vindicated by a two-judge Islamabad High Court panel and was reinstated as chairman of the PCB. Sethi then gave up his position as chairman.
Second Term
Since no other member of the Board of Governors ran for the position, Sethi was unanimously chosen to serve as PCB chairman for a second time in 2017.
Najam Sethi resigned as Chairman of PCB after Imran Khan won the 2018 general elections and became an office. Imran Khan indicated that Sethi’s replacement, former ICC President Ehsan Mani, will take over shortly after he resigned.
Third Term
Sethi was reappointed as PCB Chairman for a third term in December 2022 by the new prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, after Imran Khan was forced out of office by a vote of no confidence in April 2022.
PSL final
Sethi raced his attempts to revive international cricket in Pakistan after helping to establish Pakistan’s first-ever franchise league, the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Sethi stated that Lahore would host the final in the PSL’s second season. The statement seemed impossible at that time due to one or another reason but determined Sethi proved to be a ray of sunshine for millions of cricket-starved fans in the country.
Sethi carried out his goal to restart the playing of cricket at an international level in the nation despite some notable international stars declining to play in the final match in Lahore on March 5.
Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators met in the first-ever PSL final in its home country. Dawid Malan (England), Marlon Samuels (West Indies), Daren Sammy (West Indies), Chris Jordan (West Indies), Morne van Wyk (South Africa), Anamul Haque (Bangladesh), Sean Ervine (Zimbabwe), Rayad Emrit (West Indies) featured in that final.
ICC World XI tour
After being named PCB chairman on August 10, 2017, Sethi hosted the ICC World XI in Lahore later that year. The star-studded lineup faced Pakistan in three T20 Internationals.
The ICC World XI included players like Faf Du Plessis, Hashim Amla, David Miller, Imran Tahir (all from South Africa), Tim Paine and Ben Cutting (both from Australia), Grant Elliott (from New Zealand), and Sammy (from the West Indies).
The appointment of Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Mickey Arthur leads to CT17’s triumph
Sarfaraz’s appointment as captain and Mickey Arthur’s appointment as head coach were made possible in large part thanks to Sethi and former PCB chairman Shehryar Khan. Together, they created a strong squad that captured the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017 for the first time ever.
