Former captain Ramiz Raja has been elected "unanimously and unopposed" as the 36th chairperson of the Pakistan Cricket Board for a three-year term, according to a press release issued by the PCB on Monday.

This is the 36th term of a PCB chairman, and Ramiz is the 30th person to assume the role, reported ESPN cricinfo.

Raja is the fourth former Pakistani international cricketer to head the PCB after Abdul Hafeez Kardar (1972-1977), Javed Burki (1994-1995) and Ijaz Butt (2008-2011), read the press release.

PCB Election Commission retired Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed conducted the election and presided over the special meeting.

According to a Dawn report, out of total 10 members of the board of governors, seven were available for the election, while the remaining three from the Provincial Cricket Associations were yet to be elected.

Apart from Raja and Asad Ali Khan who were nominated by the Prime Minister Imran Khan for the post, five members of the board of governors — Aasim Wajid Jawad, Alia Zafar, Arif Saeed, Javed Kurieshi and PCB chief executive Wasim Khan — attended the meeting.

The newly-elected PCB chairperson was expected to address a press conference today at 02:15 pm.

Raja is Pakistan’s 18th Test and 12th ODI captain, and played 255 international matches in which he scored 8,674 runs in the period from 1984 to 1997. He has previously served the PCB as its chief executive from 2003-2004.

However, Raja resigned from the position in August 2004 when several conflicts of interest emerged - most notably his decision to continue working as a commentator, read the ESPN cricinfo report.

It added that since 2004 Raja has made his name as “Pakistan's premier commentator, featuring in nearly every national series, home and away.”

The report said that Raja will give up his commentary duties during this time at the administrative helm of Pakistan cricket.

According to the press release, the newly elected chairperson has also represented Pakistan on the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee and presently sits on the MCC World Cricket Committee. He has been a successful broadcaster with world’s leading cricket networks and widely regarded as the voice of Pakistan cricket.

Last month, Ehsan Mani who was former PCB chairperson has completed three-year tenure. He was appointed by the prime minister in September 2018 after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf won the election.

This time PCB’s patron-in-chief Prime Minister Imran Khan nominated Ramiz and Asad Ali Khan for the position. However, in past he was against the process of electing the chief of the body by the premier, reported Dawn.

Addressing the BoG following his election, Raja said: “I am thankful to all of you for electing me as the PCB Chairman and look forward to working with you to ensure Pakistan cricket continues to thrive and grow stronger, both on and off-the-field.

“One of my key focuses will be to help introduce in the Pakistan men’s cricket team the same culture, mind-set, attitude and approach that once made Pakistan one of the most feared cricket playing nations. As an organisation, we all need to get behind the national team and provide them the desired assistance and support so that they can produce that brand of cricket, which the fans also expect from them each time they step on to the field of play."

He added: “Obviously, as a former cricketer, my other priority will be to look into the welfare of our past and present cricketers. The game has and will always be about the cricketers and, as such, they deserve more recognition and respect from their parent institution."