Jay Shah’s image has been damaged by the ICC leadership changes, and Sunil Gavaskar has called out the “Old Powers” of cricket

Greg Barclay, the current president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), has said that he will not run for office again when his second term ends in November 2024. The current favourite to succeed Barclay is BCCI secretary Jay Shah, 35, but since he became a contender, the 35-year-old has come under fire and been asked if he had anything to do with Barclay’s decision not to run for a third term.

Speaking candidly about the issue, former cricket player Sunil Gavaskar criticised the “Old Powers” of the game for damaging Shah’s reputation.

He went on to say that they are uneasy because, should Jay Shah win, they would no longer be able to control the ICC. He enquired about their representatives’ participation in the ICC meeting as well.

“There were accusations in the media of the Old Powers that Greg Barclay was coerced into not running for a third term, a decision to which he was legally entitled. It didn’t occur to the recurring cribbers until they were questioned about the actions of their Old Powers that, in the event that Barclay was compelled to forgo a third term, what were their own ICC delegates doing at the meeting? Gavaskar wrote in his Sportstar column.

Their dissatisfaction stemmed solely from the realisation that they would no longer be in control of the game. Where were their protesting voices? And if there wasn’t, then they shared equal guilt with the person they were needlessly criticising. He went on, “It’s known as the Tall Poppy Syndrome along with the realisation that they no longer control the international game.”

Also Read: Reports: Jay Shah supports the ICC’s INR 125 crore plan to keep Test cricket

Shah has performed admirably in his role as BCCI secretary. In addition to establishing equal compensation for men’s and women’s cricket in India, he was instrumental in the introduction of a mechanism to advance red-ball cricket there most recently. Along with a number of other accomplishments, Shah also revealed prize money for Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament in all Junior and Women’s Cricket competitions.