BCCI secretary Jay Shah is the youngest ever to acquire the ICC chair, as he replaced Greg Barclay after being elected unopposed. He will begin his role on 1st December, and his major outing will begin with the Champions Trophy to be held in 2025.
With the speculations over 15 of the Board members being in favor of Shah, and the present ICC Chairman, Barclay, informed the board that he is not ready for a third term after his two terms served from 2020, Shah went on to be the only nominee and hence was selected as the unopposed Chairman.
Shah said in an ICC statement
“I am humbled by the nomination as the Chair of the International Cricket Council. I am committed to working closely with the ICC team and our member nations to further globalize cricket,”
In a recent statement released by the BCCI, Jay Shah kept priority over Test cricket and also mentioned prioritizing more resources for women’s cricket. He has also said that more and more youngsters should be brought in to play the longest format of the game.
Much like India’s success in gathering ground-level players, Shah also expressed his positive attitude towards conducting talent searches. While the shortest format remains the most exciting format, test cricket remains a priority, and every player should see it as the foundation of the game and should be drawn towards the format.
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Jay Shah is the fifth Indian to be placed as the ICC Chairman, after Jagmohan Dalmiya, Sharad Pawar, N. Srinivasan, and lastly Shashank Manohar. Shah has been into administering cricket, firstly for the Gujarat Cricket Association, from the year 2009 to 2015, where he served in many roles.
Later Shah moved to the BCCI and headed the finance and marketing committee before serving as the secretary of the BCCI from 2019 to 2024, and he remains in office until he takes over as the ICC chairman from the 1st of December.