FORMER ICC Chief Finance Officer Faisal Hasnain has been appointed the new Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) CEO for three years. He will be taking over next month to fill the position left vacant by Wasim Khan, who resigned four months before his contract ended.

“I am delighted to confirm the appointment of Faisal Hasnain as the PCB’s Chief Executive and welcome him to Pakistan cricket family,” PCB chief Ramiz Raja said in a statement. “Faisal is a familiar figure in world cricket and is highly regarded, respected and trusted for his excellence in corporate governance, financial management and commercial acumen.

With the plans I have for the PCB, Faisal will be a perfect fit as he can utilise his vast experience and knowledge to help us achieve our commercial and financial objectives of making Pakistan cricket bigger and stronger.”

This is the first major appointment by Ramiz, who has seen off several big names since taking over as the PCB chairman. Other than Wasim, head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis were the first ones to leave after Ramiz’s formal appointment in September. Commercial director Babar Hamid was also sacked while PSL players acquisition manager Imran Ahmed Khan is the next man in line to depart from the PCB in two weeks’ time.

Sixty-two-year-old Hasnain’s credentials are based on 35 years spent in finance and sports administration roles, and his last job was with Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) as managing director until 2018. He had two stints with the ICC as CFO – 2002 to 2008 and 2010 to 2017.

He has been actively involved in uplifting the ICC’s financial health and was part of the sales of the ICC commercial rights cycles 2007 to 2015 and 2016 to 2023.

His role with Zimbabwe Cricket was broadly to mitigate the crisis in the board to bring them back on the map by refinancing their commercial debts and finding a node from the ICC on getting financial support.

He managed to secure hosting rights for ZC for the 2019 World Cup Qualifiers, he helped upgrade and refurbish stadiums, and he helped bring back marquee players such as Brendan Taylor, Kyle Jarvis and Solomon Mire. But the word was unable to fully claw its way out of a financial crisis that has haunted the country for the last decade-and-a-half. He resigned only a year later, citing the failure to qualify for the 2019 World Cup as the major fact

Born in Karachi, Hasnain is a UK-qualified Chartered Accountant and made his career largely in the UK and the Middle-East.
“I feel honoured and privileged to have been awarded with this once in a lifetime opportunity to serve Pakistan cricket and thank the PCB Chairman and the Board of Governors for having the confidence in my capabilities,” he said. “I am fully committed to playing my part in delivering the PCB Chairman’s vision for Pakistan cricket, fulfilling the expectations and dreams of millions of passionate Pakistan cricket fans and strengthening the relationships with our existing commercial partners, the ICC and other Cricket Boards and developing new partnerships as we move forward.

“These are highly exciting times in Pakistan cricket and I look forward to working very closely with my colleagues at the PCB so that we can collectively further enhance the image, reputation and profile of this great institution.”

(Cricinfo)