ICC under India

Jay Shah's unopposed election as chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) seems to have cemented the belief that cricket's governing body is almost entirely controlled by India. At 35, Shah is the youngest-ever ICC chairman. His meteoric rise to the top began in 2009, when his father, Amit Shah, appointed him as joint secretary of the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA), even though he was just 21 at the time. Amit Shah, currently home minister of India, has also been one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's closest allies for the past 40 years. Modi was Gujarat's chief minister at the time, and Amit Shah was GCA chairman and a minister in Modi's state cabinet. Soon after Modi became PM, Jay Shah was appointed to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and made its secretary in 2019. In 2021, he became president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). His influence is such that even though the ACC role is rotational, Sri Lanka gave up its turn in 2024 to allow Shah to stay on as president.

However, while Shah's entire career reeks of nepotism and political patronage, it is also undeniable that his time with the BCCI has seen India consistently ranked among the best teams in the world, while the BCCI has also made great strides. Shah's five years in charge of the BCCI have seen a renewed focus on test cricket - which has been losing ground to T20-style circus cricket - and increased professionalisation of women's cricket. Players have also seen their paychecks balloon, and one of Shah's big goals is to create a global fund that would top up match fees for all test teams to about $10,000 per player per match, depending on what the ICC can set aside from TV licensing. The TV contract will also be a major challenge for Shah, as the current licence holder - Disney Star - wants to renegotiate and significantly reduce the annual value of the four-year, $3 billion deal.

As for Pakistan, we can only hope for the best while preparing for the worst - while Shah's policies will probably be lucrative for our board and players, his attitude towards us has mirrored Modi and the BJP, with consistent efforts to alienate Pakistan.