Every News: PM rejects PCB’s plan of merging departments, regions

PM rejects PCB’s plan of merging departments, regions
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KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday rejected the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) task force's plan regarding merger of regions and departments in the country's domestic cricket and instead decided that the new cricket structure would be purely city or region-based, a highly credible source told 'The News'.It was decided in a high level meeting chaired by the Prime Minister in Islamabad on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by PCB chairman Ehsan Mani, senior officials Wasim Khan, Subhan Ahmed, Haroon Rasheed, Mudassar Nazar, the task force chief Lt Gen (retd) Muzammil Hussain and Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) secretary Akbar Durrani.It was decided that there would be no role of departments and they could only sponsor the six teams which would be based on cities or regions, the source said.The source claimed that the PM did not even listen to anyone and exclusively decided the fate of Pakistan's domestic structure. Mani refused to share the outcome of the meeting when this correspondent contacted him on phone. "I cannot say a single word about it. The PCB or the Prime Minister's House will issue a press release on the subject, hopefully, today," Mani told 'The News' after the meeting.After Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government took over last year, a task force for overhauling Pakistan's domestic cricket had been formed. After several meetings the task force concluded that there should be merger of regions and departments in the first-class and second-tier cricket structures. It had also been decided that there would be eight teams in first-class cricket and eight in the second tier.The PCB Board of Governors had also approved the plan. It had also been decided in the Board of Governors meeting that input should be taken from both regions and departments before taking any final decision.The task force met both the key stakeholders (regions and departments), which rejected the idea of merger. They said it was not workable. The PM's decision has raised eyebrows. "It means that the departments will have no role in the new set-up and they will start disbanding their teams in near future," a senior official of a key department told 'The News'."The decision will not only hurt cricket but it will also damage other sports, particularly football. The players will lose jobs," an official of another department said. The PM has been saying for years that there should be cities-based cricket structure. The other day during talks with reporters in Islamabad Imran said that resounding welcome was extended by the people of Quetta to the winners of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) Quetta Gladiators despite the fact that there was no Quetta-based player in the team which was led by Sarfraz Ahmed.