Dubai. Outgoing Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Jay Shah took charge as the President of the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Sunday. Shah’s immediate aim will be to end the impasse over the Champions Trophy. With this, they will be faced with the challenge of making cricket a commercially viable Olympic sport.
He is the fifth Indian to lead this global organization. Thirty-six-year-old Shah has been the BCCI secretary for the last five years. He was the unanimous choice of the ICC Board of Directors. Shah replaced New Zealand lawyer Greg Barclay, who was not interested in continuing for a third consecutive term. Before Shah, businessman late Jagmohan Dalmiya, politician Sharad Pawar, lawyer Shashank Manohar and industrialist N Srinivasan have been among the Indians who have led the world cricket body.
The tenure of Jai Shah, son of Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, will begin with challenges as the ICC needs to find an acceptable solution to implement the ‘hybrid model’ for the Champions Trophy scheduled in Pakistan. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to accept the ‘hybrid model’ for the Champions Trophy for the time being, under which India will play its matches in Dubai. In return for this decision, the PCB wants that the same honor should be given to Pakistan in all the four ICC tournaments till 2031, which will be hosted or co-hosted by the Indian Cricket Board.
There are less than 100 days left for the Champions Trophy to begin and Shah, as head of the global body, needs to coordinate with both his former colleagues in the PCB and BCCI for an ‘acceptable solution’ to conduct the tournament without any hassles. will be. The Indian team has already refused to travel to Pakistan citing lack of approval from the government.
Without commenting on the Champions Trophy, Shah listed his priorities as promoting the global expansion of cricket once it is included in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and accelerating the growth of the women’s game.
Shah said, “This is an exciting time for the game (cricket) as we prepare for the Los Angeles Olympic Games and work to make cricket more inclusive and attractive for fans around the world.”
“We are at a critical juncture with the co-existence of multiple formats and the need to accelerate the growth of the women’s game,” he said. He said, “Cricket has immense potential at the global level and I look forward to working closely with the ICC team and member countries to capitalize on these opportunities and take the game to new heights.” Praising Barclay’s contribution to the ICC over the last four years, Shah said, “I would also like to thank Greg Barclay for his leadership in this role over the last four years and the achievements he has achieved during that period.” Shah, who started as a district level administrator in the Gujarat Cricket Association since his college days, has continued his journey from the state to the national and now global level. It was during his tenure that Gujarat became a domestic power by winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time and he was also behind the world’s largest cricket stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad.
During his tenure as BCCI Secretary, domestic match fees have increased manifold and he has been instrumental in introducing the Test Cricket Incentive Bonus for national players to increase the popularity of Test cricket.
Two major achievements for her as BCCI Secretary are the introduction of the Women’s Premier League and the equalization of match fees for men’s and women’s national team players.
Due to his young age, the present era players have better connection with him. However, he also adopted a tough approach as per the need, which included making it mandatory for India’s big players to play domestic cricket. Due to giving preference to IPL over Ranji Trophy, players like Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan had to lose the central contract of BCCI.
Barring one country, Shah enjoys overwhelming support in the ICC board room and will not face much trouble in taking policy decisions.
Earlier, Shah used to represent BCCI in ICC but now this responsibility may go to Board President Roger Binny or Vice President Rajeev Shukla. It is not yet decided who will be the next secretary of the board.
If Binny becomes the director from India, then Shukla can be the alternate director. If Shukla is made the representative of India, then the co-representative can be Arun Dhumal. Dhumal is one of the two-three names being discussed for the post of next secretary.
Treasurer Ashish Shelar and Joint Secretary Devjit Lone Saikia are also being seen as contenders for the post of Secretary.