Zaka challenges Sethi’s claims

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf has challenged the rosy picture described by incumbent chief Najam Sethi who has claimed that Pakistan will benefit by accepting the supremacy of ‘Big Three’. In a news conference at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Friday, Sethi, after officially accepting ‘Big Three’ said Pakistan during the 2015-2023 period would get several home and away bilateral series against top nations including India, and in the process the PCB will get richer by around $30 million. Sethi during the press conference claimed that international cricket ‘Big Three’ -- India, Australia and England -- had assured him that teams including India would visit Pakistan. However, Zaka, who as PCB chairman in February, refused to accept the ‘Big Three’ hegemony said the incumbent chairman was not showing the true picture to the nation. Former chairman, who was ousted supposedly over his opposition to the ‘Big Three’, while talking to Dawn questioned Sethi claim that as per agreement India and Pakistan would play bilateral series. “Sethi failed in pleading Pakistan’s case genuinely,” Zaka reckoned. “What type of agreement is it? Tell me if India will not honour its commitment then what Pakistan can do? How we can rely on Indian courts?” Zaka claimed that he had rejected ‘Big Three’ on the issue that any dispute between cricket states should be settled by the international court of arbitration. “Even now this clause has not been included in the agreement signed by Sethi,” he underlined. Zaka further claimed that there was nothing new in Sethi’s press conference. “As regards ICC’s presidency, it had already been decided during my tenure that Pakistan will hold this position after Bangladesh,” Zaka concluded.