Former PCB chairman and diplomat Shaharyar Khan dies

Shaharyar Khan, a career diplomat and former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman who played a big role in restoring cricket ties with India in the early 2000s, died on Saturday. He was 89.

The Bhopal-born Pakistan diplomat, who was a cousin of former India captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, breathed his last here after battling prolonged illness.

He served as Pakistan foreign secretary between 1990-94 and also as a High Commissioner in New Delhi and the United Kingdom.

Shaharyar headed the PCB from 2003 to 2006, a period when India toured Pakistan twice, and from 2014 to 2017.

He also worked as Pakistan team manager during the 1999 tour of India and the 2003 Cricket World Cup. He belonged to the royal family of Bhopal.

A learned personality who also wrote several books on his experiences in foreign relations and cricket, Shaharyar, in an interview last year, expressed regrets that in his last tenure as PCB chief he couldn't revive regular bilateral Test cricket ties with India which have been suspended since 2007 due to the tense relations between the two neighbours.

Perhaps the biggest controversy in his tenure as PCB chairman was Pakistan forfeiting the Oval Test to England in 2006 for which he blamed the then captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Shaharyar later expressed concerns over Inzamam's push for introducing religion in the team.

Current PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi also expressed his condolences over the passing away of Shaharyar.

"On behalf of the PCB, I express my deep condolences and grief over the passing of former Chairman Shaharyar Khan. He was a fine administrator and served Pakistan Cricket with utmost dedication.

"Pakistan Cricket will stay indebted to the late Shaharyar Khan for his commendable role as head of the board and for his services in the growth and development of the game in the country," said Naqvi.