Jay Shah elected unopposed as Independent Chair of ICC

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Mumbai: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah has been elected unopposed as the next Independent Chair of the International Cricket Council (ICC). He will assume this role starting December 1.

After current Chair Greg Barclay made it known to the ICC board that he would not like to run for another term, July 27 was set as the deadline to file nominations. Shah was the only one nominated; and that too by a huge majority, comfortably more than the two of the sixteen current ICC directors, as required by the rules.

Shah, 35, will become the youngest ever to head the ICC. Previously, Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sharad Pawar were ICC Presidents, and later N Srinivasan and Shashank Manohar when the post was relabeled as Chairman.

“I am humbled by the nomination as the Chair of the International Cricket Council,” Shah said in a statement. “I am committed to working closely with the ICC team and our member nations to further globalize cricket. We stand at a critical juncture where it is increasingly important to balance the coexistence of multiple formats, promote the adoption of advanced technologies, and introduce our marquee events to new global markets. Our goal is to make cricket more inclusive and popular than ever before.”

Shah has been at the helm of affairs at BCCI as the secretary since October 2019. When Shah’s first term began, former India captain board president Sourav Ganguly was more the newsmaker. Soon, after he got a grip on things, Shah became the front and center of decision-making in Indian cricket. That’s the way it has remained in his current term with Roger Binny as the president.

Indian Premier League (IPL) expansion from eight to ten teams, the bumper media-rights revision by three times for 2023-27 all happened under Shah’s watch. Getting the Women’s Premier League (WPL) up and running with impressive gains for both the board and the players has been transformative.

Shah was also driving the steering wheel in ICC’s finance committee (F&CA) when BCCI got its biggest-ever share (38.5 %) of ICC revenue.

As he switches track, all eyes will be on how he tackles the new responsibility of safeguarding the interests of ICC’s 108 member units. Shah’s most immediate challenge would be to address ICC world-events broadcasters from the Indian market Disney Star’s demand, seeking a discount on their $3 billion media-rights payout for 2023-27.

The ICC Chairman being an independent post, Shah would be required to give up his BCCI duties as well as the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Chair. When Shah completes his three-year term heading the ICC, it would also be construed as his cooling-off period from the BCCI, making him re-eligible to become an office bearer in the Indian board.