Islamabad: The President of Zarai Taraqiyati Bank Muhammad Zaka Ashraf has been appointed the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) by President Asif Ali Zardari.
New PCB Chairman Muhammad Zaka Ashraf
The decision was taken after a meeting between President Zardari and Ashraf. A notification of his appointment will be issued soon.
Ashraf was appointed after the completion of service tenure of Ijaz Butt, the former PCB chairman.
WOC came to know that he was a close friend and a class fellow of President Zardari. Muhammad Zaka Ashraf an old Sadiqian of Sadiq Public School belongs to a traditional industrial and farming family of Punjab.
After passing out from Petaro, he took his bachelor’s degree and then joined his father in his business. He has had an illustrious career in business ever since.
Over the years, he has become the Chairman of the Ashraf Group of Industries that had been established by his father. These include the Ashraf Sugar Mills in Bahawalpur.
In addition, he has also managed the family farms in Punjab and in the Sindh area. Over the past several years, Zaka Ashraf was also elected thrice as the Chairman of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association.
In this capacity, he has done a lot of work to promote the production and use of Ethanol from the molasses produced in the sugar industry. He has been instrumental in developing a policy for the country to blend ethanol with petrol to reduce harmful emissions into the environment and to take the country one more step towards using indigenous fuels.
In 2008, Zaka Ashraf was appointed as the President of the Zarai Taraqqiati Bank Ltd (ZTBL) and today 11 october he is appointed as chairman PCB.
It was learnt that the PCB’s ex-chief Ijaz Butt was seeking an extension and was looking to take into confidence President Asif Ali Zardari, the board’s patron-in-chief. But former players and PCB officials stressed for a new man to run the board and concluded that Butt’s three-year stint brought unprecedented miseries. Express Tribune quoted.
Butt’s three-year tenure drew heavy criticism due to various unwanted incidents and controversies from former PCB bosses and ex-Test cricketers. However, the chairman also enjoyed support from many given his strict disciplinary policy and the introduction of new players in the squad.
