Chaudhry Muhammad Zaka Ashraf ( Punjabi, ; born 9 September 1952) is a Pakistani executive administrator who has served as the chairman of the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), formerly known as Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan ...

in three different tenures.

Early life and education

Born into a

Gujjar The Gurjar (or Gujjar, Gujar, Gurjara) are an agricultural ethnic community, residing mainly in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were traditionally involved in agriculture, pastoral and nomadic ...

family, Zaka is the son of Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf, a businessman and influential PPP politician close to

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

. He belongs to a traditional industrial and farming family of Punjab. Zaka is also cousin of senior PTI politician

Shafqat Mahmood Shafqat Mahmood (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ; 19 February 1950) is a retired Pakistani bureaucrat-turned-politician who served as the Federal Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, and Federal Minister for National History an ...

and senior

PML-N The Pakistan Muslim League (N) or (PML(N)) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right, Conservatism in Pakistan, conservative political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third-largest party in the Senate of Pakistan, Senate and the larges ...

politician Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal Gujjar. Zaka has been associated with

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major List of political parties in Pakistan, Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a Cent ...

since 1970, under the government of

. While he was in college, he developed close ties with future politician

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari (born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician serving as the 14th president of Pakistan since 2024, having held the same office from 2008 to 2013. He is the president of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and was the ...

, due to their similar political views. After passing out from Petaro, he took his bachelor's degree and then joined his father in his business. Ashraf is an

alumnus Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

of the

Sadiq Public School The Sadiq Public School (SPS) is a college-preparatory boarding school located in Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan. It also takes day pupils. It is one of the largest schools in Pakistan and its area of makes it both the largest in the country and ...

, Bahwalpur, and the

Cadet College Petaro Cadet College Petaro is a military boarding school in Jamshoro District of the southern province of Sindh in Pakistan, about 30 km from Hyderabad. The college is under the administration of the Pakistan Navy. Its campus occupies over 700 acres ...

, from where he graduated in 1973.

Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board

He was appointed as the chairman of

on 15 October 2011 by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

and took the charge on 27 October 2011. However, on 10 February 2014, the

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms, first serving from 1990 to 1993, then ...

dissolved the PCB governing board and sacked him from the chairmanship of PCB. In August 2012, he was elected as chairman Development Committee of

Asian Cricket Council The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is a cricket organization which was established in 1983, to promote and develop the sport of Cricket in Asia. Subordinate to the International Cricket Council, the council is the continent's regional administrati ...

Suspension by the Court

On 28 May 2013, the

Islamabad High Court The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is the senior court of the Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan, with appellate jurisdiction over the following District courts of Pakistan, district courts: * Islamabad District Court (East) * Islamabad Distr ...

stopped Zaka Ashraf from working as

Chairman on the petition of that the election of Zaka as PCB chairman was malafide by the former coach of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Cricket team. Moreover, the IHC had barred him from performing his duties on the grounds that the process of his election was not transparent. On 24 June 2013, the case was adjourned till further notice.

Re-appointment

The

reinstated Zaka Ashraf as chairman of the

on 15 January 2014. The decision to reinstate Ashraf was taken by a two-member division bench consisting of

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

Noorul Haq Qureshi and Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan. The court accepted the intra-court appeal against the decision by a single-member bench of IHC consisting of Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui. Previously on 19 July 2013, the Islamabad High Court had declared the appointment of Ashraf "illegal" and directed the acting PCB chief

Najam Sethi Najam Aziz Sethi ( Punjabi, Urdu: نجم عزیز سیٹھی; born 20 May 1948) is a Pakistani journalist, businessman and cricket administrator. He is the current chief executive officer (CEO) of Mitchell's. Previously, he served as the Chai ...

to hold elections within 90 days. Zaka Ashraf held this office until 10 February 2014.

Third term

In June 2023, he was nominated by Pakistan Peoples Party for the position of chairman PCB opposite to Najam Sethi. On 20 June 2023, Najam Sethi announced his withdrawal from PCB chairmanship race. On the same day, Zaka Ashraf was appointed as the member of the Pakistan Cricket Board Board of Governors. On 6 July 2023, he assumed his role as the Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board by replacing Najam Sethi. On 19 January 2024, he resigned from his position as the Chairman of Management Committee and member of BoG. He was succeeded by Moshin Naqvi as the Chairman PCB.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashraf, Zaka Living people Pakistani bankers Pakistani businesspeople Pakistani chief executives Pakistan People's Party politicians Pakistani sports executives and administrators People from Bahawalpur District Cadet College Petaro alumni Sadiq Public School alumni 1952 births Pakistan Cricket Board presidents and chairmen