Profile: Ijaz Butt, the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Ijaz Butt is Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board since 2008. He took up the Chairmanship of the board after http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Nasim-Ashraf-c78712’s resigned from the post. However, his rise to cricket management did not take place over night. Butt has served in the Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan and has also served as the President as the Lahore City Cricket Association (LCA). Ijaz Butt has headed the national selection committee on two occasions for Pakistan as well. Along with his cricketing assignments, Butt has also held the position of senior manager in the Service Industries of Pakistan; a foot wear company owned by his brother-in-law and current Defence Minister Chaudary Ahmed Mukhtar.
Ijaz Butt has played 8 test matches for Pakistan as a right-handed batsman and a wicket keeper. He scored 279 runs in his short career of 8 matches with an average of 19.92 runs per match. He made his debut in 1959 in a match against the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 while he played his last test in 1962 at the Oval against the English team. Unlike his short and unsuccessful international career, his domestic career had decent records to his name. He played a total of 67 first-class cricket matches, scoring 3842 runs with an average of 34.30 runs per match. To his credit, he had 7 centuries and 12 fifties in his first-class domestic career.
Ijaz Butt currently holds the most powerful office in the Pakistan Cricket Board. The PCB is governed on an adhoc basis which is why the chairman has limitless powers in the decision making processes relating to cricket in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 and the board. Ijaz Butt was appointed by President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan. According to the norms of system, he is likely to continue as long as the current government setup stays in power.
Ijaz Butt has faced a lot of criticism as chairman PCB as he has also been involved in different controversies during his stay in office. His appointment was a controversial one to start off with, since he happens to be the brother-in-law of the current Defence Minister of Pakistan. Some media reports suggest that Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar had to exercise his muscles in order to make sure that the powerful position of the PCB lands in the hands of Ijaz Butt. Interestingly, Butt had to face scathing criticism from some members of the National Assembly of Pakistan, which had initially supported him for this position. Jamshed Dasti, the former Chairman of the Standing Committee on Sport, was the biggest critics of Ijaz Butt, who had pressed for Butt’s resignation. Ijaz Butt and Dasti made their anger public by openly criticizing each other’s role in the dark world of Pakistani sports. After a spate of defeats for the national team, rumours were rife that Ijaz Butt will be relieved from his current position. Dasti on different private channels promised to take Butt down with the help of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Sports. Dasti had to leave his National Assembly position on account of a fake degree and Ijaz Butt got another lifeline to continue his job at office.
Ijaz Butt faced criticism from different media pundits. He was criticized for being casual in press conference and not taking matters quite seriously. Reporters were seen unhappy and astonished to see that Ijaz Butt in one of his press conferences attended a phone call while reporters kept waiting for the call to end. Reporters and journalists also criticized him for making public statements and then completely forgetting them. He was seen taking huge “U-Turns” on many of his decisions. Butt also faced criticism for exercising his unlimited powers with regards to the decision making of other bodies within the PCB. Media stands were full of stories, claiming that Ijaz Butt solely makes decisions on his likes and dislikes, while putting a deaf ear to expert opinions. His role also came under bombardment, when different inquiry committee videos got public and he openly admitted in a press conference that he was facing political pressure to provide pardon to the culprits from within the National Assembly.
The PCB failed to establish good relations with other boards during http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758. PCB under the guidance of Ijaz Butt started a legal battle against the ICC. However, sense prevailed and PCB settled the matter out of court. During this time, the relationship between the PCB and the BCCI touched to their lowest levels. Malcolm Speed, the former CEO of the International Cricket Council publicly called Ijaz Butt a “buffoon”, which has further dented his credentials and as a dignified Chairman of PCB.
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