Zaka Ashraf, the PCB chief, has been retained until the end of the 2023 ODI World Cup.

The interim prime minister of Pakistan and supporter of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Anwar ul Haq Kakar, has announced that Zaka Ashraf will continue to lead the PCB till the end of the ODI World Cup in India.

November 5 was supposed to mark the end of the current Zaka Ashraf-led interim management committee’s term as the board’s supervisor. The PCB’s future has been closely monitored after a series of high-profile blunders, including a press release that placed blame on Babar Azam and Inzamam-ul-Haq, who had since resigned as chief selector, and a controversy surrounding a leaked WhatsApp conversation between the captain and a senior PCB official.

Zulfiqar Malik and Mustafa Ramday, two members of the management committee, have chastised Ashraf for his poor decision-making and inaction over holding board elections.  Additionally, Mustafa Ramday has voiced his dissatisfaction with the way the board has being run.

Malik sent an email in October to Zaka Ashraf, the prime minister, and other committee members expressing his dissatisfaction of PCB actions.

You are aware that there is a tournament underway at this moment. We’ll handle this competition, taking care of what needs to be done and what doesn’t. I don’t think we will make a significant decision just yet. This is because there are situations when you have to work in accordance with the theory of necessity. We’ll see once the World Cup is over, Kakar said to Dawn News.

Coming into this weekend, the patron had two options: either choose a new committee or give the current one more time. The latter was selected. In addition to being the PCB’s patron, Kakar serves as interim prime minister and is in responsible of choosing the board’s chairman.

The two Pakistani rulings that Kakar mentioned are connected to the idea of necessity. Two decisions made by the Chief Justice—one in 1977 authorizing a military takeover and the other in 1954 approving the use of extraconstitutional emergency powers. The day before Pakistan’s pivotal World Cup match in Bengaluru against New Zealand, Kakar delivered his speech. Notably, Pakistan would undoubtedly be eliminated from the competition if they lost to the Kiwis.