Zaka Ashraf

Chaudhry Muhammad Zaka Ashraf (Punjabi, ; born 9 September 1952) is a Pakistani executive administrator who has served as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board in three different tenures.

Early life and education
Born into a Gujjar family, Zaka is the son of Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf, a businessman and influential PPP politician close to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He belongs to a traditional industrial and farming family of Punjab.

Zaka is also cousin of senior PTI politician Shafqat Mahmood and senior PML-N politician Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal Gujjar.

Zaka has been associated with Pakistan Peoples Party since 1970, under the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. While he was in college, he developed close ties with future politician Asif Ali Zardari, due to their similar political views. After passing out from Petaro, he took his bachelor's degree, and then joined his father in his business.

Ashraf is an alumnus of the Sadiq Public School, Bahwalpur, and the Cadet College Petaro, from where he graduated in 1973.

Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board
He was appointed as the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board on 15 October 2011 by the President of Pakistan and took the charge on 27 October 2011. However, on 10 February 2014, the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif dissolved the PCB governing board and sacked him from the chairmanship of PCB. In August 2012, he was elected as chairman Development Committee of Asian Cricket Council.

Suspension by the Court
On 28 May 2013, the Islamabad High Court stopped Zaka Ashraf from working as Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman on the petition of that the election of Zaka as PCB chairman was malafide by the former coach of Pakistan Cricket team. Moreover, the IHC had barred him from performing his duties on the grounds that the process of his election was not transparent. On 24 June 2013, the was case adjourned till further notice.

Re-appointment
The Islamabad High Court reinstated Zaka Ashraf as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board on 15 January 2014. The decision to reinstate Ashraf was taken by a two-member division bench consisting of Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi and Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan. The court accepted the intra-court appeal against the decision by a single-member bench of IHC consisting of Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui. Previously on 19 July 2013, the Islamabad High Court had declared the appointment of Ashraf "illegal" and directed the acting PCB chief Najam Sethi to hold elections within 90 days. Zaka Ashraf held this office until 10 February 2014.

Third term
In June 2023, he was nominated by Pakistan Peoples Party for the position of chairman PCB opposite to Najam Sethi. On 20 June 2023, Najam Sethi announced his withdrawal from PCB chairmanship race. On the same day, Zaka Ashraf was appointed as the member of the Pakistan Cricket Board Board of Governors. On 6 July 2023, he assumed his role as the Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board by replacing Najam Sethi. On 19 January 2024, he resigned from his position as the Chairman of Management Committee and member of BoG. He was succeeded by Moshin Naqvi as the Chairman PCB.