Jay Shah’s Takeover Of World Cricket Was Years In The Making

Following years of rampant speculation and apparent scheming, all-powerful Jay Shah has finally taken the reins of world cricket after being elected unopposed as chair of the International Cricket Council.

As I flagged in recent months, the ascension of Shah, the sport’s most influential administrator as head of India’s wealthy governing body, was inevitable after he signalled his intention to run for the ICC’s top post.

Seeing the writing on the wall, knowing he could not compete with Shah’s heft, chair Greg Barclay did not seek a third term. As I reported last month, veteran board directors Imran Khwaja and Tavengwa Mukuhlani decided not to contest some time ago.

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Shah, whose father Amit Shah is India’s minister of home affairs and the right-hand man to nationalistic prime minster Narendra Modi, became India’s cricket governing body’s secretary in 2019, but isn’t eligible to run for its role of president until 2028.

His term starts in December and runs until the end of 2027 after the chair’s tenure changed from a maximum of three two-year terms to two terms lasting three years each. Turning 36 next month, Shah will be the youngest ever ICC chair.

Shah’s term will end just before Los Angeles 2028 when cricket makes its Olympic return after a 128-year absence. But there is still an unknown over qualifying formats, the exact number of teams and locations for the men’s and women’s T20 competitions.

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“The inclusion of our sport in the Olympics at LA 2028 represents a significant inflection point for the growth of cricket, and I am confident that it will drive the sport forward in unprecedented ways,” Shah said in a press release.

Shah will step down from his post as India boss given the ICC chair is deemed an independent role. He presumably has to give up his role as chair of the Asian Cricket Council, which he has held since 2021.

Shah’s rise has been at least four years in the making. As I reported at the time, India was keen to regain control of the all-powerful ICC board after former chair Shashank Manohar had initiated a more inclusive approach that somewhat diminished the overwhelming influence of an increasingly reviled ‘big three’ of India, England and Australia.

India supported Barclay – whom the Indian media at the time dubbed as a ‘compromise candidate’ – in a divisive 2020 election with Singaporean Khwaja, who was Manohar’s successor and aiming to be the first chair from an Associate country. He did not have the vested interests that often dog those from Full Members, with Shah now set to be a litmus test.

Shah decided not to run in the last election in 2022, leaving Barclay with a clear path to continue his tenure after Mukuhlani pulled out at the last minute. But Shah’s influence has steadily grown having taking charge of the ICC’s powerful Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee and he’s also been part of a working group that helped shape the bid for cricket’s Olympic return.

It has been something of an audition for Shah, who can be easily lampooned with his heavy spectacles, doughy physique and slickly manicured hair.

But with hard-line politics in his blood, Shah rules with an iron fist and the ICC will certainly be moulded in his image unlike the unassuming Barclay, who did feel somewhat like a caretaker while everyone waited for cricket’s mighty figure to take the reins.

Some of his perceived rivals have privately lauded Shah for his willingness to engage in discussion and there is a feeling that he might just be able to unify a board that has often fractured due to self-interests.

Though there might also be an air of helplessness as Shah will have total control and there is pessimism over whether he will seek an inclusive approach given he helped deliver India with the lion’s share of the ICC’s $3 billion media rights deal.

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Cricket is in a pivotal juncture with the proliferation of lucrative franchise leagues threatening the primacy of international cricket.

Shah has thrown his support behind protecting Test cricket, but there will be many other issues under the microscope such as the plight of women’s cricket in Afghanistan, which detractors of Barclay believed he did not have the gravitas to act on.

Shah won’t be left wondering as a new era of world cricket is imminent after a coronation that was a long time coming.