Once the current secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Jay Shah, was promoted to be the new secretary of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in an unopposed election where he replaced Greg Barclay of New Zealand and is expected to take the charge of the role on December 01.
Jay Shah, at the age of 35, is now the youngest-ever ICC chief to hold the post, after Barclay, who was in the chair for terms since 2020, after the veteran decided to deny the third term for the post, as the board of the directors decided to file the nominators for the next chief until August 27.
No candidate was nominated for the election, which made the path clear for the current BCCI secretary, as he was granted the badge by the members, and joined the other four Indians, Jagmohan Dalmiya, Sharad Pawar, N Srinivasan, and Shashank Manohar to be the fifth Indian to head the ICC.
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The former BCCI secretary started his journey as the cricket administrator in the state of Gujarat in 2009, after which he became the secretary of Indian cricket in October 2019. It was just in 2022 when Jay Shah became part of the influential Finance and Commercial Affairs of ICC and was appointed as the chair last year.
Senior BCCI official eliminates the potential secretary’s name to replace Jay Shah
A few reports in the past claimed that Rohan Jaitley is the lead to replace Jay Shah in emerging in the media, senior BCCI official has confirmed that no final decision has been yet to be taken.
The BCCI secretary will be taking over as the ICC chairman, leaving all of his former past work. Speculations have been rife about who his replacement will be. A few names have sparked the fire, but names that have gained the performance are Anil Patel (Gujarat) and Rohan Jaitley (Delhi).
Several media reports confirmed that Jaitley is the front-runner to be the new BCCI secretary, but a senior BCCI official has confirmed ‘Times Now’ that no name has been finalized yet, as a call will be taken only after the consultation with all the stakeholders.
The 35-year-old still has a month in the position as he has already taken his name out of the chair of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), where he belonged since January 2021.
“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.” Jay Shah stated after winning the election unopposed.
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The structure of Indian cricket has changed a lot in the last few years. Whether it’s the salary of the players or putting more importance on the domestic structure of the game, the quality of India in the world cricket map has been highlighted further. He also vowed to put his whole attention on Test cricket, which remains a priority for everyone as it forms the bedrock of the game.
With just four weeks left before he takes the role of the ICC, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will need to take a call on the new member who is going to replace Jay Shah as the new BCCI secretary.