Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah’s ICC chairmanship hopes put on hold, BCCI secretary settles for cricket committee berth

The delay works for the BCCI as it has been hoping that an Indian would be ICC chairman when the 50-over World Cup Trophy takes place in the country in 2023.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) board on Sunday convinced its chairman Gregor Barclay to complete his term till end of October before the global body starts its nomination process to find a new chairman where the Indian cricket board could play a massive role. It was earlier reported that both BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah could be interested in taking over from Barclay.

However, according to Cricbuzz website former BCCI president and Union Information and Broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur’s name could also be proposed for the position. The New Zealander Barclay was elected in December 2020 after an influential role played by the BCCI 18 months back.

If the election were to be held in May-June, the new chairman would have taken charge at the ICC Annual Conference in July. The delay works for the BCCI as it has been hoping that an Indian would be ICC chairman when the 50-over World Cup Trophy takes place in the country in 2023. By October, there will be a lot of clarity on who among the current office-bearers of the BCCI can continue.

In another significant development, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja’s proposal for a four-nation tournament has been unanimously rejected by the board, putting an end to speculations of multiple India versus Pakistan matches on neural venues. However, it must be noted that there was no voting on the topic

The other notable development was BCCI secretary Jay Shah being inducted into the ICC cricket committee. The two-day board meeting which concluded in Dubai on Sunday was a win-win one for the Indian cricket board as Barclay's continuation till October gives it ample time to strategise whether it will field a candidate for the top post in the month of November.