He said that in order to adjust Sethi in the PCB setup, the board’s constitution was being overhauled.

PM Shehbaz Sharif ordered the formation of a 14-member committee, with Sethi as the head, to revive the 2014 constitution, following which the 2019 constitution would stand repealed. Under the 2019 constitution, the prime minister in his role as the patron of the PCB cannot remove a sitting chairman unless he steps down or ousted through a vote of confidence.

Raja was also unhappy with the way the decision was announced. He said that Sethi, known for his inside scoops on Pakistan’s political scene, tweeted the announcement of his sacking in the middle of the night.

He said that the decision was taken while the team was involved in back-to-back series.

“We are people who have played Test cricket. We should have been asked to leave respectfully.”

Ramiz Raja is a former captain of the national team and played 57 Tests and 198 ODIs. He was part of the team that won the 1992 ODI World Cup in Australia.

Najam Sethi is a prominent political analyst who has been part of talk shows on several news channels. He is the founder-editor of the weekly The Friday Times, with his wife Jugnu Mohsin the publisher. He is also credited with the success of the Pakistan Super League, the country’s marquee domestic T20 tournament.

Following his appointment, he said he would discontinue his media work to focus on his cricketing responsibilities.