Najam Sethi was reinstated as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, four days after a lower court replaced him with Zaka Ashraf.
The Supreme Court ruled on a petition from the government.
On Saturday, the Islamabad High Court invalidated Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s decision to get rid of Mr. Ashraf in February. Mr. Sharif appointed a management committee which elected Mr. Sethi, a journalist, as interim chairman.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended the high court move, and Judge Anwar Zaheer Jamali said the next hearing will be on Tuesday.
“It’s a clear message for those who are playing the musical chair,” Mr. Sethi said. “We do respect the Supreme Court’s decision.”
The turmoil in Pakistan cricket started a year ago when Mr. Ashraf was elected as PCB chairman, but it was challenged in the high court by former cricket administrators in Rawalpindi. The high court termed Mr. Ashraf’s election process as “polluted.”
Mr. Ashraf was restored in January by a divisional bench of the high court, before Mr. Sharif was made patron of the PCB.
Mr. Sethi’s mandate was to conduct fresh elections for chairman, which will be held in June, and streamline the PCB. He terminated 25 employees, chose a new chief selector and national team coaches. His committee also amended the constitution, which awaits approval from Sharif and the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination.
