Ijaz Butt, a former PCB chairman, passes away at age 85. he died away on Thursday at the age of 85 in Lahore.
His son-in-law, Arif Saeed, said that he had been battling sickness for a lengthy amount of time. PCB post an emotional post on Twitter over Ijaz Butt’s passing. PCB said:
The news of the loss of former Test cricketer and ex-PCB chairman Ijaz Butt saddens the PCB. We offer his family and friends our sincere sympathies
The PCB is saddened by the news of the passing of former Test cricketer and ex-PCB chairman Ijaz Butt. Our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/EH0UuMBfhN
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 3, 2023
Ijaz Butt scored 41 not out in his debut Test match against the West Indies, leading his team to a ten-wicket victory.
He was a great batsman and more than a good wicketkeeper. He played twice against Australia, scoring his sole half-century in Karachi.
In the three Test matches he played in England in 1962, he battled with his batting, but altogether he scored 1016 runs at a strike rate of 28.22, including a century before lunch against Kent.
Between 1984 to 1988, he worked as the secretary of Pakistan’s former Board of Control for Cricket. For a long time, he served as the Lahore City Cricket Association’s president.
He twice served as the chairman of the national selection committee and led the Pakistani squad on a 1982–1983 tour of Australia. Nasim Ashraf was appointed as the chairman of the Pakistan board in 2008 at the age of 70, following his departure.
Due to a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus, some matches had to be canceled following Pakistan’s new government coming into power.
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However, despite the challenges, Pakistan cricket did see several triumphs. Under Younis Khan’s leadership, the squad won the T20 World Cup with a historic triumph the same year.