Tauqir given an emotional farewell by PCB

Lt Gen (retd) Tauqir Zia was given an emotional farewell by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) at the Gaddafi Stadium today. Zia announced his retirement as chairman of the PCB last month and Sunday will be his last day in office. He will officially hand over the position his successor, Shaharyar M.Khan, that afternoon and Shaharyar will assume his role from Monday.

Tauqir was presented with a memento by Rameez Raja, the chief executive, on behalf of the PCB in the ceremony attended by roughly 50 people, including former Test players and officials. Souvenirs were also presented to Mohammad Naeem, the treasurer, and Sami-uz-Zaman, the real estate advisor, who also resigned.

In a speech addressed to those present, Rameez said: "General Tauqir has been the driving force in taking the PCB to new heights. He has been an inspirational leader and commander, and fatherly figure who believed in collective effort. General Tauqir always attributed the achievements of the PCB to his people while took all the blame for the mistakes that were made, which naturally were unintentional."

He added: "General Tauqir was creative and always believed in doing something different which could benefit cricket. The infrastructure development and the National Cricket Academy was his brainchild. Pakistan can now proudly say that it has enough cricket grounds and international standard academy that will produce quality cricketers in years to come.

Tauqir himself also said a few words, admitting he had some tough times. "It has been an extremely tough but enjoyable four years. Running the PCB is not a bed of roses and I admit I have made mistakes. But all the decisions were taken in the best interest of the game. I will be taking with me the good memories of my stay in the PCB."

However, he also cleared up a few matters of his exit: "I must also make it very clear that my resignation has nothing to do with the controversy between the two television channels. I resigned on November 23, 2003 while the television controversy started on November 29, 2003."

He concluded: "I wish all the success to my successor and that the PCB flourishes and becomes and organization people look up to for inspiration."