Jay Shah: Onus on youngest ICC boss to play the global body chief
New Delhi: The Jay Shah era began at the International Cricket Council (ICC) from Sunday (December 1), albeit under somewhat challenging circumstances. At 36, the youngest ICC chairman has started off by making the right noises about focusing on Test cricket, globalisation of the sport and the women’s game – though he has a pressing problem at hand in the ICC Champions Trophy.
Yes, the festering issue of India and Pakistan will be a thorn in the flesh of Shah – but it could also be his biggest chance to play the global body chief in a true sense of the term. Till a day before, he was the secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the richest cricket body of the world and at odds with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), and his identity as the son of India’s powerful Home Minister Amit Shah defining his position almost by default.
Not anymore. Shah now has the onerous task of saving the Champions Trophy by meeting the PCB halfway on the issue of ‘hybrid model’ as there are no chances of India reversing it’s decision of crossing the border to play cricket. Informed sources say that the partnership model suggested by Pakistan, which effectively means that the contentious India-Pakistan matches be played at a neutral venue for next three years (read: Dubai), has met with the approval in principle of both parties.
It will be a good start to the innings for Shah if the plan works as it’s high time that the unwarranted drama over the venue of India-Pakistan matches is laid to rest – and PCB also does not feel shortchanged. There are also unconfirmed reports of the PCB asking for a hike in their 5.75% share of the ICC revenue on the grounds that the matches between the two neighbours have been the biggest draw at ICC events for than a decade now.
The onus will be on Shah and his core group’s bargaining skills to win over Pakistan – irrespective of the jingoistic voices on either side of the border from the TV pundits or social media. May be, there is a cue in the manner Jagmohan Dalmiya, the first Indian to take over the top job in 1997, used to rally around influential officials of the sub-continent in tackling challenging situations as this one.
Looking at the bigger picture, there are many a challenging issues confronting the game – namely the future of Test cricket and striking a balance between international cricket and the lure of T20 franchise leagues for the cricketers. ‘’Test cricket remains the pinnacle of the game and I am dedicated to preserving its stature while enhancing its appeal to fans. Simultaneously, women’s cricket will be a cornerstone of our growth strategy as we take the sport to new horizons,’’ Shah said on his X handle after taking charge. The introduction of World Test Championship (WTC), in it’s third cycle now, has given the five-day format a new context but the ICC may need to take some tough decisions towards simultaneous management of it’s three formats – Tests, ODIs and T20Is. The recent controversy over the ICC Champions Trophy has already raised a question in some quarters on the need to revive this tournament after eight years – especially at a time when the 50-overs World Cup is itself faced with an existential crisis.
Now that cricket has also been included in the Los Angeles Olympics 2028, the ICC needs to optimise on that window to find new markets for the sport. The task will be cut out for Shah, as the global body’s experiment of taking a leg of the last T20 World Cup to the US had resulted in losses for them.
The businessman son of Amit Shah had started his journey extremely young in 2009 at his backyard: the Gujarat Cricket Association. During his tenure, he oversaw the development of the gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and began his tenure as the BCCI secretary in 2019 – albeit with a high profile president in former India skipper Sourav Ganguly, the Dada of Indian cricket.
There had been enough challenges over the last six years in the shape of saving the IPL and navigating through the T20 World Cup in 2021 in times of the pandemic, not to speak of the 50-overs World Cup in India last year. He had also played important roles as the President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and as Chair of the ICC’s Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee.
However, the well oiled machinery of the BCCI and the clout he wielded meant things could virtually run on an auto pilot. The bigger challenge – in full gaze of the cricketing world and Western media – begins now!
