(ESPNCRICINFO) – The removal of Ramiz Raja as PCB chairman and the current board has been formally initiated by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, who is also patron of the cricket board. That ends a couple of days of growing and fevered speculation of an imminent regime change and though it has to go through formalities, Ramiz’s chairmanship is effectively over.

A 14-member management committee, headed by former board head and prominent media analyst Najam Sethi, and including former Pakistan captains Shahid Afridi and Sana Mir will take interim charge of affairs. The committee will have 120 days in which they are expected to change the PCB’s constitution, bringing back the 2014 version to replace the current one (put in place in 2019).

A notification issued from the Prime Minister’s office and and a summary from the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) confirmed speculation that had built over the last couple of days, prompted by Pakistan’s defeat in Karachi to England. That loss completed an unprecedented 0-3 home whitewash.

“Constitution of a management committee to manage the affairs of PCB with full executive powers with the aim of effecting the restoration of Departmental Cricket Structure and other allied matters, including the nomination of a Board of Governors and election of chairman, as stipulated in the 2014 constitution, within a timeframe of 120 days,” the notification said. “The management committee of PCB shall comprise the Chairman/Chief Executive & required members.”

The notification has to be sent to the Law and Justice Division to be legally vetted, before being put in front of the cabinet for approval. That is expected to be a mere formality. It is not clear at the moment what implications – if any – this has on the senior executive in the board, though ESPNcricinfo believes there will be a cull.

The 2014 constitution did not have scope for a CEO, for instance, with the chairman doubling up in that role. At the moment, the CEO is Faisal Hasnain and the COO – for whom there is a role – Salman Naseer.

Yesterday, Pakistan also announced a squad for the Test series against New Zealand which begins from December 26 in Karachi. New Zealand’s squad were due to arrive yesterday evening for their first series of any kind in Pakistan since 2003 – to a board in flux.

Both the Pakistan captain Babar Azam and coach Saqlain Mushtaq have come under scrutiny after the loss to England but it is unlikely either of those positions change so soon – in any case Saqlain’s tenure ends in February 2023.

Though Ramiz’s expected departure will be the headline consequence, the main order of business for the new committee is the repeal of the current board constitution to reinstate the 2014 version. In fact, the summary sent by the IPC to the prime minister’s office is not specifically about a board change. Its main concern is the constitutional revamp whereby department teams can return to domestic cricket.

It is in this roundabout way that the current administration, led by Ramiz, is being removed – because the 2019 constitution does not recognise departmental cricket, the old constitution that does is being brought back and an interim management committee will be tasked to carry that out.