05 August,2009 05:11 PM IST | | IANS
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ijaz Butt is under immense pressure to quit following a series of setbacks during his turbulent ten-month stint.
The national media is rife with reports that Butt's days as PCB chairman are numbered as the top authorities are not very pleased with his performance.
The team's loss on the tour of Sri Lanka has further jolted Butt's cause and demands for his removal have gathered momentum.
Recently, the chairman of a parliamentary sports committee advised the 71-year-old Butt to retire, saying that he is too old to run the game in an efficient manner.
Earlier this year, Senate's standing committee on sports made similar recommendations to the government.
Pakistan's sports ministry is also unhappy with Butt's performance and is reportedly preparing a summary suggesting his dismissal which it is rumoured will be sent to the Prime Minister's Office soon.
Speculations in national cricketing circles suggest that President Asif Zardari - PCB's chief patron - has lost faith in Butt's abilities and may soon ask him to step down as chairman.
Pakistan's media has mostly rejected Butt, a former Test player, as a complete failure. Critics have fired Butt for his inability to form a competent team of officials to run cricket and for his failure to successfully fight for Pakistan's cause at the international cricketing forums.
The News - one of Pakistan's mainstream English-language newspapers - launched a stinging attack on Butt and suggested that only by replacing him with a competent professional can Pakistan start rebuilding its cricket.
"Ten months after being hailed as a possible saviour for Pakistan cricket, Ijaz Butt comes across as a man who is only guiding the sport into a deeper crisis," wrote The News.
"Butt has proved to be quite a disaster which can be gauged by the fact that many of his team members have already jumped ship," it said referring to the resignations of former Test cricketers Abdul Qadir and Aamer Sohail from key PCB posts in recent months.
