Shashank Manohar quits as ICC Chairman, Imran Khawaja named interim head
MUMBAI: ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar has stepped down after two, two-year tenures as the head of the cricket body. The ICC Board met on Wednesday and decided that Deputy Chairman Imran Khawaja will take the charge until Manohar’s successor is elected.
The process for the Chairperson election is likely to be approved by the ICC Board within the next week. Manohar, as per the ICC rules, could have stayed for another two-year-term as a maximum of three terms is allowed.
However, he decided not to continue ahead of the all-important ICC meeting. As per reports, England’s Colin Graves is the frontrunner to succeed Manohar but recently, former Cricket West Indies chief Dave Cameron has also joined the race recently.
Manohar on Wednesday stepped down as the International Cricket Council’s first independent chairman, ending a stint which coincided with the BCCI losing its influence in the world body.
Manohar took charge as ICC Chairman in November 2015. His deputy Imran Khwaja, from Hong Kong, will be the interim chairman. “ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar has stepped down after two, two-year tenures at its helm.
The ICC Board met today and agreed that Deputy Chairman Imran Khwaja will assume the responsibilities of the Chairperson until a successor is elected,” ICC stated in a release.
The process for the election of the next chairperson is expected to be approved by the ICC Board within the next week.The 62-year-old lawyer had previously been the BCCI President twice first stint was from 2008 to 2011 and second time from October, 2015 to May, 2016, a part of which coincided with the ICC chairmanship.
“On behalf of the ICC Board and staff and the whole cricket family, I would like to thank Shashank for his leadership and everything he has done for the sport as ICC Chairman. We wish him and his family all the very best for the future,” said ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney who had worked with Manohar for the last year since taking over last summer.
ICC Deputy Chairman Imran Khwaja added, “There is no doubt that cricket owes Shashank a debt of gratitude for all he has done for the sport. He has left cricket and the ICC in a better place than he found it.”
Former ECB chairman Colin Graves and India’s Sourav Ganguly are the main contenders even though the former India skipper’s candidature depends on the whether Supreme Court would allow him to continue as BCCI President by relaxing the cooling off norms mandated by the Lodha administrative reforms.
As per the current constitution, Ganguly’s six years as office-bearer in state and BCCI end on July 31 and he is qualified to take over the ICC chairmanship.
Manohar’s exit from the scene couldn’t have come at a better time for the BCCI, which is desperate to hold the IPL in the October-November window instead of the ICC T20 World Cup which is scheduled to be held in Australia.
While none of the top BCCI bigwigs were ready to comment but Manohar’s strained relations with successive Board regimes from his bete noire N Srinivasan’s time meant that none of them were unhappy with his departure.
Those in the know of things believe that BCCI can have a better working relationship with the new chairman and if it is Ganguly, it will be nothing short of icing on the cake.The issues with regards to tax rebate for two ICC tournaments (T20 World cup 2021 and ODI World Cup 2023) is one thing that will be foremost on their agenda.
The BCCI will also like to have a re-look at the revenue sharing model after the ICC, under Manohar’s leadership, scrapped the ‘BIG Three’ model. Despite India being the biggest market for ICC’s advertisement revenue, there is currently no BCCI representation in the global body’s Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee (F&CA).
(With Agency Inputs ).
