KARACHI - Mohsin KhanFormer chief selector and coach Mohsin Khan has said he is willing to contest the elections for the post of Pakistan Cricket Board chairman if it is held as scheduled on November 2. Speculations have been rife about how many former Test players could qualify to contest the elections ordered by the Islamabad High Court which has set forth some clear cut eligibility rules for contesting candidates.
Two of the conditions are most significant one: the candidate must be at least a graduate and must have played either Test or first-class cricket. This condition interestingly rules out many former heads of the board from contesting the elections including the acting chairman, Najam Sethi and also puts brakes on to the tradition of the government appointing board chairman from amongst bureaucrats, military or even business community.
Mohsin said since he qualified for the elections if he felt conditions were right he would contest the elections. "Many people have asked me whether I am interested in becoming the PCB chairman and I have said if the situation arises and I feel I can contest the elections I will do it as I believe former players can be better administrators in Pakistan," he said.
Other prominent names being bandied about as possible candidates to contest the elections include former captains, Aamir Sohail, Rameez Raja, Intikhab Alam, Haroon Rasheed and even some former board administrators like Arif Ali Abbasi who has played first class cricket. Many former players have hailed the IHC eligibility conditions set for contesting the elections as they feel this would give former players a better chance of becoming involved in Pakistan cricket board affairs. "It would be perfect if we can have a proper elected chairman of the board because then he would be accountable to the people and the general body of the board," former captain, Rashid Latif told PTI.
Former leg spinner, Abdul Qadir said the system of having the chairman directly appointed by the government had not really produced desired results in the past. Interestingly, the IHC orders to have elections on Nov 2nd have also caused some confusion because Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif had under amendments made in the PCB constitution this month appointed a interim management committee to run cricket affairs in the country for the next three months.
"When an interim committee is in force then the general body and electoral college of the board ceases to exist so it is a big question how can the elections be held when the IHC has also ratified the existence of the interim committee while ordering the elections at the same time," one legal expert said.