Imran Khan can save Pakistan cricket - Ramiz

Former Pakistan opener Ramiz Raja believes Imran Khan is the right man to rescue Pakistan cricket from its current crisis and hoped the cricketer-turned-politician would consider heading the PCB, which is yet to appoint its chairman after Nasim Ashraf quit last month.

"You cannot find a better person to lead the cricket board. He can see us through this crisis. The Pakistan Cricket Board is facing problems and Imran is the right man to put the game back on track," he told PTI.

Imran, since retiring from international cricket in 1992, has been away from the game. He entered Pakistan politics and formed his own political party, the Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Ramiz said Imran's presence as head of the board would help Pakistan's cause at the international level. Not only was he confident that Imran "would play a key role in increasing Pakistan's influence in the ICC, he would also be able to convince other boards to get their players to tour Pakistan".

"While it is true that at this moment it is difficult to convince teams to tour Pakistan because of the prevailing circumstances, I feel even now the board can, with sensible policy and support of other boards, resume international cricket activities in Pakistan," he said.

With the postponement of the Champions Trophy and the shortage of international matches at home, former Pakistan players are understandably concerned about the state of affairs. Earlier, Javed Miandad had urged the new Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari to keep a close watch on the working of the PCB and eliminate the unnecessary positions created by the previous regime.