"Ehsan Mani should work himself like I did, there's no need for these other people" : Najam Sethi

[Abdullah719]

"Ehsan Mani should work himself like I did, there's no need for these other people" : Najam Sethi

Najam Sethi speaking on his TV show on 24News:

"I am saddened about what happened at the PCB BOG meeting, I think it's a very costly thing which has happened and the PCB is fully to blame"

"They have tried to make changes in an authoritarian manner"

"5 people had one view, and PM IK's two appointed members had another view. The 5 are elected while the 2 are appointed. In a democracy, the majority has the advantage"

"The Board elects the Chairman and makes him Chief Executive, there is no position for a MD"

"The day to day decisions are taken by the Chairman but for important decisions, he has to go to the Board. They made the decision to take the powers from the Board and do what they want and that is the point of contention"

"If I come to you and tell you to give me your gun so I can kill you, what will you say? This is not how things are done"

"You have to change the constitution to make the position of a MD. You have to do things according to the law"

"Our cricket system is 50:50 for departments and regions. Now departments spend 1 billion rupees a year on cricket. If you abolish them then what will happen to that money?"

"All of Pakistan's big cricketers with only a couple of exceptions like IK played for depts. and depts. took care of them. They give jobs to the players"

"When I went to PCB, the highest ranking director was paid 2.5 to 4.5 lakhs. There were some people who had been in a position for 20 years and there salaries were 5-6 lakhs as there is a 5% increase annually"

"The Chairman has no salary, he gets money for expenses and for accommodation when overseas"

"There are four new people, MD who is getting 25-30 lakhs. I haven't seen the contract but I'm sure there must be permission to go to London 6-8 times annually in Business Class and PCB will pay his expenses"

"I don't think the new people were required. We didn't hire any such people and we started PSL, we won the CT, we brought international cricket back to Pakistan, we built stadiums. We didn't bring in new people, we motivated the existing the staff"

"These people don't know about Pakistan's cricket structure. The MD is a nice person and he was effective in England but there it's the private sector, here this is the public sector. There's a big difference in rules and regulations"

"In England, cricket is run as a company. Here we have elected people and a law and things work with consultation. A system has been in place for 70 years and you want to change it overnight"

"The costs for these new 4 people are coming to 20 crore over a 3 year period. What is the need for that? Ehsan Mani should work himself like I did, and like others did. There is no need for these people, they have no special expertise which they can bring in to PCB"

"Mani sahab has no humility, he was very arrogant in the manner he spoke yesterday. The BoG members are elected people, they have risen from the bottom to the top and there is a whole structure here"

"If Mani sahab doesn't change his attitude and if IK doesn't give him the right advice, this will go out of hand and things will go to the courts and everything will come to a halt"

"I know that people are angry with how PCB is trying to function. Mani sahab needs to change his attitude and should listen to others and respect others and take the board forward in a democratic way"

"The vision has some weight. Cricket should be based on a regional basis. But how to implement that, I don't think PCB has worked it out and they haven't discussed it which is why there are problems now"

"Mani sahab needs to get off his high horse and he needs to smell what's happening on the ground. You can't behave like this with elected people"

"If confusion persists then eventually the Supreme Court of High Court may step in and remove the Patron and the other leadership and appoint a committee to run PCB"

 

[mak36]

Hypocrisy has no bounds...

 

[Hawkeye]

Sethi being a sore loser here, if he had any credibility and shame, he shouldn't have been defending the BoG.

PCB needs to be privatized ASAP. That's the only way forward and for us to become a top team, favor merit, it's required.

Sethi going after the wrong people. Just because of political opposition.

 

[moghul]

We are used to corrupt system for 70 years and it has been working ( for some people ) , why change, let continue the corruption, thats what Sethi is trying to say.

 

[NauV]

For those surprised, Najam Sethi is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the prevalent system in Pakistan! If there was merit, would he ever have become PCB chairman?

And he is amazing at taking the moral high ground!

 

[ritzy_123]

Oh Please Najam Sethi..!!!!

 

[Hawkeye]

I have defended Sethi at a lot of places.

Like idiotic rambling that 'he's not on merit'. He was fully on merit, a great administrator! People cried over it but that's what people do.

However, here, Sethi is wrong and he's siding with the status quo. Which is very inefficient, slow-moving, lots of red tape, and incompetent.

 

[unemployedgm]

The PCB doesn't necessarily need to be privatized but the cricket structure operating under the PCB should. Private investment forces merit. Privatization will lead to better executives, sports management professionals, coaches, and cricketers.

 

[Majid Khan]

Basically what he is saying is that running the PCB needs someone who understands the politics and can wheel and deal with these crocodiles and beneficiaries of this ‘system’ - and Sethi is correct in that he’s better and more capable at playing cunning political games with these BoG than Mani and Wasim Khan combined.

You either need a cunning and politically aware guy like Sethi who then smartly rolls out his plans, or you need buy in from the top (IK) to go ahead and dissolve this system and set up a model for PCB where educated and professional people like Wasim Khan and Mani can come in and deliver.

Otherwise it’s like asking Hafeez to go out to bat on a bouncy wicket at Sabina Park, Jamaica against Marshall, Holding, Roberts and Garner - a hopeless situation.

 

[Hawkeye]

The PCB doesn't necessarily need to be privatized but the cricket structure operating under the PCB should. Private investment forces merit. Privatization will lead to better executives, sports management professionals, coaches, and cricketers.

It's not possible to privatize the structure, when the management and the bosses are still the same incompetent ones. And hiding behind 'govt' rules.

If the board is privatized, all the other matters will eventually be resolved as well.

 

[unemployedgm]

The psl is for the most part privatized.

 

[saeed5646]

Sour loser .Not surprised mafia member supporting his friends

They only way forward is kick this mafia out and bring new professional people to the job .

 

[Markhor]

"The Board elects the Chairman and makes him Chief Executive, there is no position for a MD"

"The day to day decisions are taken by the Chairman but for important decisions, he has to go to the Board. They made the decision to take the powers from the Board and do what they want and that is the point of contention"

But that's exactly the problem - the Chairmanship should be a ceremonial role and a CEO/MD responsible for the day to day operations.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Sour loser .Not surprised mafia member supporting his friends

They only way forward is kick this mafia out and bring new professional people to the job .

Every one asks to kick the mafia out.. but how and what is the risk involved in doing so

Sethi says they are elected, how can they dethrone elected people as they will comeback by going to courts

 

[Major]

Sethi being a sore loser here, if he had any credibility and shame, he shouldn't have been defending the BoG.

PCB needs to be privatized ASAP. That's the only way forward and for us to become a top team, favor merit, it's required.

Sethi going after the wrong people. Just because of political opposition.

thats a very immature post.

You cannot privatize a sports board, even if you do its the most ridiculous move one could make

 

[unemployedgm]

What makes the BOG qualified to be in their positions?

 

[unemployedgm]

These individuals are elected based on a rigged democratic system. They are incompetent and corrupt.

 

[shariqnoor]

Sethi being spot on here.

Ehsan Mani and Wasim Khan are the outsiders here in this game and they are the ones who have been parachuted into a system that's 70 years old. You cannot uproot the system with a blinding wave of the magic wand which is precisely what they have tried to do here.

I'm all for overhauling the system and the vision of Mani, IK and Wasim is absolutely correct. Even Sethi also endorses that vision but there is a way to go about it. Sethi was a master at getting things done without upsetting the apple cart too quickly. Mani and Wasim needs to understand the politics ingrained in our system and that what worked in England will not work here. You cannot simply brush away an annual investment of Rs 1 billion by departments just because you personally don't like that structure.

If there is no MD position role allowed in the constitution, then how can you blame the BOG on this point for rejecting Wasim Khan's appointment? Mani should have lobbied in the background to the BOGs to get tacit approvals on having the constitution changed so that Wasim Khan's appointment could be made legitimate. But apparently on the face of it, this did not happen.

 

[Savak]

Sethi being spot on here.

Ehsan Mani and Wasim Khan are the outsiders here in this game and they are the ones who have been parachuted into a system that's 70 years old. You cannot uproot the system with a blinding wave of the magic wand which is precisely what they have tried to do here.

I'm all for overhauling the system and the vision of Mani, IK and Wasim is absolutely correct. Even Sethi also endorses that vision but there is a way to go about it. Sethi was a master at getting things done without upsetting the apple cart too quickly. Mani and Wasim needs to understand the politics ingrained in our system and that what worked in England will not work here. You cannot simply brush away an annual investment of Rs 1 billion by departments just because you personally don't like that structure.

If there is no MD position role allowed in the constitution, then how can you blame the BOG on this point for rejecting Wasim Khan's appointment? Mani should have lobbied in the background to the BOGs to get tacit approvals on having the constitution changed so that Wasim Khan's appointment could be made legitimate. But apparently on the face of it, this did not happen.

Apparently the PCB was requesting the departments to take ownership of the regions and get involved in the selection, managment and utilize their funds there. But IK apparently vetoed that idea as well. I personally believe merging the departments and regions together is the only practical solution.

Also the PCB has already produced documents proving the BOG had approved the hiring of an MD in October 2018. How can they go back now and say that they never gave such approval? I am reading that a lot of members of the BOG have loyalties to the PML N and PPP and i suspect they are deliberately trying to create mischief and opposition.

 

[ftbno1]

I am amazed with acrimony against NS. He is the one who brought you PSL, brought cricket back to Pakistan. You really are ungrateful bunch.
He is not a politician who did some massive corruption.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

I am completely with Sethi here.

Mani's intent might be pure but he has thoroughly failed to demonstrate any kind of leadership. It's his job to change the system from the inside and his first few months have shown no taking people with you behavior. Really poor.

 

[Pete Rose]

Never liked Mani. the PCB has a system of governance, and you have to work the room or change it. again, still cant shake the feeling that he thinks this is some retirement passtime.

 

[ARK Rafay]

I may not like Sethi as a person. But I think he has served Pakistan well. And I respect his efforts for that and I agree with him in this regard too.

 

[Snowflake]

All of Sethi's analysis are so predictable these days.

Anything against the governing, Sethi will side with it.

I saw this particular and one of his gems were "Aap 70 saal k nizaam ko aesay nai badal saktay. Aapko domestic structure ki izzat kerni chahiye

This is the same domestic structure which has been under scrutiny for God knows how long. Every single administrator of the PCB has called upon to improve and revive our domestic structure. Also, what has longevity got to do with it? Do you start loving cancer when its at stage IV? How it's been there so long, we need to respect it.

These kind of 'analyses' are the reason why I have strong dislike for NS. He might come across as a sensible guy, but if you read between the lines, he's one of the most hypocritical individuals out there.

 

[Snowflake]

I am completely with Sethi here.

Mani's intent might be pure but he has thoroughly failed to demonstrate any kind of leadership. It's his job to change the system from the inside and his first few months have shown no taking people with you behavior. Really poor.

Taking people with you attitude does not apply when you have corrupt freeloaders sitting in the offices. These 'BoGs' don't know jack s**** about how to run cricket. These guys are the reason why our domestic structure is where its at right now. What have they achieved to deserve the 'take people with you' behavior?

 

[Abu_Hamza]

Waseem Khan should better pack his bag and get back to ENGLAND rather getting into the middle of this ugly war. You can't remove the dinosaur's in the PCB. Remember dinosaurs got removed by nature itself. So better to wait for it to happen by itself rather than pushing for it and getting dragged to courts and making a mess of it. If IMRAN KHAN removes these elected members then they will go to courts and get a stay order. Also the direct interference of PM or the govt. will lead to PCB getting banned by ICC. But one thing is sure that when everything gets stacked against PAKISTAN cricket then the performance of the cricket tem rises. So expect PAK to win world cup.

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

Mani's incompetency made sethi looks like an angel but he is the most evil person PCB have had.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Taking people with you attitude does not apply when you have corrupt freeloaders sitting in the offices. These 'BoGs' don't know jack s**** about how to run cricket. These guys are the reason why our domestic structure is where its at right now. What have they achieved to deserve the 'take people with you' behavior?

I am sorry but I am hearing incompetent, freeloaders and many other accusations.

In the entire thread, I have not seen one piece of evidence in support of this statement.

In the entire thread, I have not seen one piece of evidence that shows Mani's plan was well thought through and will make Pakistan cricket better.

The only argument everyone is repeating is that Pakistan's domestic structure is poor because of these board members - which again I have seen no evidence for. Were there any wonderful domestic structures proposed to this group in the past that were rejected?

From what I have seen so far, Mani has been thoroughly incompetent in pushing his agenda through - domestically or on international forums.

Anyone on PP who can give person by person performance facts of BoG members?

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Never liked Mani. the PCB has a system of governance, and you have to work the room or change it. again, still cant shake the feeling that he thinks this is some retirement passtime.

Thoroughly agree. Unlike others, he has a chance to change the system from the inside, part strategy, part diplomacy, part carrot, part stick. So far, he has proven to be a dogmatic Powerpoint led incharge who feels righteous indignation when people do not do his bidding.

 

[Abu_Hamza]

So Mani comes as an incompetent guy and Sethi competent but corrupt according to people over here. That means one will be honest but his regime will see no progress. And other brought progress but did scams too if the audit reports of PSL are to be believed. Now, decide urself that whom do u want for PCB for a long term prospect..

 

[MenInG]

So Mani comes as an incompetent guy and Sethi competent but corrupt according to people over here. That means one will be honest but his regime will see no progress. And other brought progress but did scams too if the audit reports of PSL are to be believed. Now, decide urself that whom do u want for PCB for a long term prospect..

Do you actually understand what corrupt means?

Please describe in your own words.

 

[Abu_Hamza]

Do you actually understand what corrupt means?

Please describe in your own words.

One who acts dishonestly for monetary gains or personal gains.

 

[MenInG]

One who acts dishonestly for monetary gains or personal gains.

Ok so such a person in your view is ok to run the PCB?

 

[Bewal Express]

Ok so such a person in your view is ok to run the PCB?

For some of these people it's a prerequisite.

 

[MenInG]

Can we keep this corrupt is ok business on TPS as this is serious stuff being discussed here. Thanks

 

[Abu_Hamza]

Ok so such a person in your view is ok to run the PCB?

Well, a straight forward answer is no, never. But he was somehow able to get things done in PCB, like oragnising PSL, bringing PSL cricket matches and International matches to PAK. He would have been also aware that going ruthlessly about the things will halt the progress. So he kept the deadwood or the dinosaurs of the PCB (BOG) happy, while getting thing done and in the meantime he kept filling his pockets too along with the BOG if the audit report of PSL is to be believed. He took advantage of the the prevailing situtation in PCB which cant be justified. He has something to show that what he did during his tenure but milked his position too. Mani is honest and wants things to happen for better but he is facing too many obstacles and there is a possibility that if a ruthless approach is taken then it will go to courts and be like Sethi and Zaka Ashraf drama and Pak Cricket will be the ultimate loser. If Mani would have tried to organise PSL then he would not have been able to do so becoz he would have done it in an honest way which is the right way to do it and that would have meant leaving no scope for corruption and he would have faced stumbling blocks. Sethi did organise PSL but now we know how it was done according to PSL audit report. It means an honest person will not be allowed to do his work if this BOG remains, he will be only allowed to do things if he fills their pocket through corrupt practices. The entry of Waseem Khan will stop it all, is known to BOG and also it will make them powerless. So, this BOG is in no mood to leave coz they get fat paychecks and perks for doing nothing but occupying the seats. Thus, one can say that its not OK that a dishonest person runs PCB but then an honest person will also not be allowed to run PCB either by BOG as they will create a lot of trobule for him which is evident with the turn of events right now.

 

[MenInG]

Well, a straight forward answer is no, never. But he was somehow able to get things done in PCB, like oragnising PSL, bringing PSL cricket matches and International matches to PAK. He would have been also aware that going ruthlessly about the things will halt the progress. So he kept the deadwood or the dinosaurs of the PCB (BOG) happy, while getting thing done and in the meantime he kept filling his pockets too along with the BOG if the audit report of PSL is to be believed. He took advantage of the the prevailing situtation in PCB which cant be justified. He has something to show that what he did during his tenure but milked his position too. Mani is honest and wants things to happen for better but he is facing too many obstacles and there is a possibility that if a ruthless approach is taken then it will go to courts and be like Sethi and Zaka Ashraf drama and Pak Cricket will be the ultimate loser. If Mani would have tried to organise PSL then he would not have been able to do so becoz he would have done it in an honest way which is the right way to do it and that would have meant leaving no scope for corruption and he would have faced stumbling blocks. Sethi did organise PSL but now we know how it was done according to PSL audit report. It means an honest person will not be allowed to do his work if this BOG remains, he will be only allowed to do things if he fills their pocket through corrupt practices. The entry of Waseem Khan will stop it all, is known to BOG and also it will make them powerless. So, this BOG is in no mood to leave coz they get fat paychecks and perks for doing nothing but occupying the seats. Thus, one can say that its not OK that a dishonest person runs PCB but then an honest person will also not be allowed to run PCB either by BOG as they will create a lot of trobule for him which is evident with the turn of events right now.

so because we cannot remove a dishonest person from PCB, lets fold our arms and say its ok.

What we should be doing is lending our support to Mani Sahib so that he can reform this broken system.

As for PSL, it would have happened under any administration as long as the will was there - Sethi only facilitated the tournament, didnt invent the idea.

 

[Abu_Hamza]

so because we cannot remove a dishonest person from PCB, lets fold our arms and say its ok.

What we should be doing is lending our support to Mani Sahib so that he can reform this broken system.

As for PSL, it would have happened under any administration as long as the will was there - Sethi only facilitated the tournament, didnt invent the idea.

Sheharyar Khan had a chance to facilitate PSL when he was the chairman but he didn't. He was reluctant. Sheharyar Khan was apprehensive about it so Sethi took it upon himself as Sheharyar Khan left this to him. And he did it during the administration of Sheharyar Khan only. But he did the same when dealing the MOU case and went ahead when Sheharyar Khan was not in favour of suing BCCI as he knew that PCB has little chance of winning the case and this time he was right as PCB lost the case and had to pay to the BCCI. So the approach of SETHI had its own pros and cons.

 

[Savak]

Wasim Khan was bought in to professionalize and modernize the PCB and to further improve the PCB's chances of attracting foreign teams to tour Pakistan.

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

Sethi Ji showing his bad side.

 

[Mamoon]

It is rich and convenient for some people to claim that Sethi doesn't deserve credit for PSL since it would have been establiashed anyway, but let's not forget that the idea of an IPL style league in Pakistan has been floating since 2011-2012, and it wasn't until Sethi got involved that the idea turned into reality.

Launching a T20 league is not easy as we saw with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh previously. It is not also not a coincidence that teams started to tour Pakistan in some capacity after Sethi started working in the PCB. He is the probably the most well-connected individual in the country and has immense clout. He knows how to get things done.

The biggest failure of his tenure of course was the legal battle with BCCI. I don't blame him entirely because I believe PCB would have gone ahead with the case anyway, but someone of Sethi's intelligence should have known that we didn't have a strong case.

Nevertheless, he was the ideal man to continue in his role as PCB and PSL Chairman. Imran Khan allowed his usual shoddy judgment and personal grade get in the way. Ehsan Mani is just another Shahryar Khan. He doesn't have the energy for this role and neither does he have the personality to play hard ball with these board members.

 

[Abu_Hamza]

Ehsan Mani is just another Shahryar Khan.

 

[Abu_Hamza]

It is rich and convenient for some people to claim that Sethi doesn't deserve credit for PSL since it would have been establiashed anyway, but let's not forget that the idea of an IPL style league in Pakistan has been floating since 2011-2012, and it wasn't until Sethi got involved that the idea turned into reality.

Launching a T20 league is not easy as we saw with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh previously. It is not also not a coincidence that teams started to tour Pakistan in some capacity after Sethi started working in the PCB. He is the probably the most well-connected individual in the country and has immense clout. He knows how to get things done.

The biggest failure of his tenure of course was the legal battle with BCCI. I don't blame him entirely because I believe PCB would have gone ahead with the case anyway, but someone of Sethi's intelligence should have known that we didn't have a strong case.

Nevertheless, he was the ideal man to continue in his role as PCB and PSL Chairman. Imran Khan allowed his usual shoddy judgment and personal grade get in the way. Ehsan Mani is just another Shahryar Khan. He doesn't have the energy for this role and neither does he have the personality to play hard ball with these board members.

So, Sir [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] what do u think now ? How things will pan out? The members of BOG do not seem to give up and they are trying to push for no change and EHSAN Mani says that things will not stop , meetings cant be hijacked and change is inveitable. No one can stop it. Its not looking good for PCB. Whats ur take on this as EHSAN MANI has got the backing of PM Imran Khan who is patron of PCB and on the other hand BOG are elected members so they may go to court if they are removed and then it will be a mess.

 

[Abu_Hamza]

It is rich and convenient for some people to claim that Sethi doesn't deserve credit for PSL since it would have been establiashed anyway, but let's not forget that the idea of an IPL style league in Pakistan has been floating since 2011-2012, and it wasn't until Sethi got involved that the idea turned into reality.

Launching a T20 league is not easy as we saw with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh previously. It is not also not a coincidence that teams started to tour Pakistan in some capacity after Sethi started working in the PCB. He is the probably the most well-connected individual in the country and has immense clout. He knows how to get things done.

The biggest failure of his tenure of course was the legal battle with BCCI. I don't blame him entirely because I believe PCB would have gone ahead with the case anyway, but someone of Sethi's intelligence should have known that we didn't have a strong case.

Nevertheless, he was the ideal man to continue in his role as PCB and PSL Chairman. Imran Khan allowed his usual shoddy judgment and personal grade get in the way. Ehsan Mani is just another Shahryar Khan. He doesn't have the energy for this role and neither does he have the personality to play hard ball with these board members.

Ya Its a known fact that PSL came to fruition only when SETHI got involved.