The recent resignation of Mustafa Kamal has left a void in the ICC, as the post of the ICC Chairman is vacated without any candidate. However, it is now understood that Najam Sethi, the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s executive committee is likely to take over the role of the interim ICC President. Among all the possible choices, Sethi, who is in Dubai now to attend an ICC meeting, is the likeliest to replace Kamal.
Sethi, though, was supposed to become the ICC president in July for a span of 12 months, after Kamal’s tenure as the president was done. But now, with the premature resignation of Kamal grabbing headlines, it would be Sethi, who would first take over as the interim president, before he formally takes over the position in July this year.
Kamal recently resigned from his post, in a rather controversial and unconventional manner. After the India- Bangladesh quarter final in Melbourne last month, Kamal austerely bashed the umpires throughout the media for a no ball given in favour of India. Kamal went on to allege that the umpires had stepped on to the field with the clear agenda of favouring India.
The Bangladeshi said that he even doubted the functioning of cricket’s premier governing body, the ICC. This caused a massive furor in the entire cricketing fraternity. Its repercussions were felt when Kamal was not invited to be a part of the trophy distribution panel in the World Cup final. This finally resulted in Kamal resigning.
Nonetheless, post his resignation and as per the ICC guidelines, the Bangladesh Cricket Board had a choice to name his replacement. However, on 5th April, Nazmul Hussain, the BCB President said that they were undecided over the replacement.
Nazmul Hussain was quoted saying, “We discussed the matter in our meeting today. I haven’t seen anyone showing interest. The person whom we nominate ultimately has to give a 10-minute speech in one meeting. We haven’t selected anyone but we still have a bit of time to make our mind. We will also look into the ICC’s constitution to find out what could be done. We will let you know soon what we decide, whether to send anyone’s name as nomination or not.”