In the event that Jay Shah is elected president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has expressed confidence that he will have a beneficial impact on cricket worldwide, just as he has had on Indian cricket.
Following ICC Chairman Greg Barclay’s declaration that he will not seek reelection, Gavaskar made his remarks. In his most recent piece for Sportstar, Gavaskar stated, “Jay Shah will most likely be the next president of the Indian Cricket Association.”
“When Greg Barclay announced his decision not to go for a third term, which he was entitled to, there were reports in the media of the Old Powers that Barclay’s decision had been forced by Shah,” Gavaskar explained. “Only when the perennial cribbers were questioned about what the representatives of their Old Powers were doing did it suddenly occur to them that if indeed Barclay was forced to not seek a third term, then Wrat were their own representatives at the ICC doing at the meeting?”
The former cricket player attacked these “Old Powers” even further, claiming their concerns stemmed from a fear of becoming less powerful.
He credited Indian cricket’s current success with this collaboration. “The way Indian cricket has shaped up over the years is also a tribute to the BCCI and its administration,” Gavaskar said. The fact that the teams—men’s and women’s—have been playing a certain style of cricket is another important factor in the sport’s growth in India. The sponsors would withdraw if the squad was losing. The reason Indian cricket is in such good shape can be attributed to the players’ and administrators’ outstanding collaboration. May it always remain so.”
The way that Gavaskar has supported Shah and criticized the “Old Powers” suggests that cricket’s global governance may be changing. This change may enable young leaders to reshape sport governance globally.
