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ISLAMABAD. — Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday removed the country’s cricket chief Zaka Ashraf, in the latest twist to a long-running saga dogging the national board. It is the second time in less than a year that Ashraf has been unseated as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which will be run for the time being by an 11-strong interim committee appointed by Sharif.

Ashraf’s removal by a court order in May last year due to doubts over his election led to a series of legal challenges that critics say has damaged the sport in Pakistan.A notice from the prime minister, who is also patron of the PCB, confirmed Ashraf’s removal.

“Prime Minister has removed Ashraf from his post as PCB chairman and has appointed a 11-man interim committee to run cricket affairs,” Irfanullah Khan, the lawyer for a body which runs sports affairs in Pakistan, said.

The reasons for Ashraf’s removal are still unknown. But sources pointed to his failure to give Pakistan a strong voice at a crucial International Cricket Council meeting in Singapore on Saturday. — AFP.