Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Jay Shah is reportedly set to replace Greg Barclay as chairperson of the International Cricket Council.
Not that the development is “breaking news”. Everyone and their uncle know that if Shah were to put his hand up for the job, he would be a shoo-in given BCCI’s almighty heft in a sport India completely dominates financially.
Because of the BCCI’s financial power, Shah is in any case already one of the most influential faces in the ICC board room. He is currently head of ICC’s all-powerful Finance and Commercial Affairs (F&CA) sub-committee.
Meanwhile, Barclay has made his intentions known to the ICC directors of stepping aside from the post after his second term.
An ICC statement said, “ICC chair Greg Barclay confirmed to the board that he will not stand for a third term and will step down from the post when his current tenure finishes at the end of November.”
Current directors are required to submit nominations for the next chair by 27 August. If there are more than two candidates, an election will be held, with the new chair’s term beginning on 1 December.
Barclay was appointed as the independent ICC chair in November 2020 and was re-elected in 2022.
If the NDTV report turns out to be accurate, the 35-year-old Shah would be the youngest person to hold the position in history and the fifth Indian to head the ICC, following in the footsteps of Jagmohan Dalmiya, Sharad Pawar, N Srinivasan, and Shashank Manohar.
