ISLAMABAD: Former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board and a career diplomat, Shaharyar Khan, died on Saturday at the age of 89, the PCB confirmed in a condolence message. 
Khan was a well-known Pakistani diplomat who became Foreign Secretary of Pakistan in 1990, and remained so until his retirement from the service in 1994. He later served as United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Rwanda from 1994–1996, a time about which he wrote the book The Shallow Graves of Rwanda. 
Khan served as PCB chairman for two terms, from December 2003 to October 2006, and from August 2014 to August 2017. Khan also worked as team manager of the Pakistan National Men’s team during the 1999 tour of India and the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003. He served as the president of the Asian Cricket Council in 2016.
“The PCB pays heartfelt condolences to Shaharyar Khan’s family on his sad demise and wishes to always remember him as one of the vital characters in bringing cricket back to Pakistan during the last decade,” the PCB said in a statement.
Quoting PCB Chairman Syed Mohsin Naqvi, the press released added:
“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.”
Khan was born on March 29, 1934 in the Qasr-e-Sultani Palace (now Saifia College), in Bhopal State in British India. He was the only son and male heir of both Nawab Muhammad Sarwar Ali Khan, the ruler of the former princely state of Kurwai and Princess Begum Abida Sultan, the Crown Princess and the eldest daughter of the last ruling Nawab of Bhopal, Hajji-Hafiz Sir Muhammad Nawab Hamidullah Khan.
Khan is descended from the royal family of former princely state of Bhopal where his ancestors had emigrated during the first quarter of the eighteenth century from Afghanistan.
During his vast career as a diplomat, Khan served as Pakistan’s ambassador to Jordan, the UK and France, among other postings, and was Chairman, Committee on Foreign Service Reforms, Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1997–1999). He also taught courses on Pakistan’s Foreign Relations at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).
Among his notable publications are the books on Rwanda, the Begums of Bhopal, a history of the princely state of Bhopal and Cricket – a Bridge of Peace, about India-Pakistan relations. His most personal book was the biography of his mother Princess Abida Sultaan – Memoirs of a Rebel Princess. With his son Ali Khan, a LUMS professor, he wrote Cricket Cauldron: The Turbulent Politics of Sport in Pakistan and co-authored a book titled Shadows Across the Playing Field: 60 Years of India-Pakistan Cricket with renowned Indian writer and politician Shashi Tharoor.