Sunil Gavaskar calls out ‘Old Powers’ of cricket for spoiling Jay Shah’s image over ICC leadership changes

Current International Cricket Council (ICC) president Greg Barclay confirmed that he won’t seek another term after his second spell expires in November 2024. BCCI secretary Jay Shah is currently the favourite to replace him but ever since he emerged as one of the possibilities, the 35-year-old has been criticised and was questioned if he had any role in Barclay not deciding to seek a third term.

Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar opened up on the matter and called out the ‘Old Powers’ of cricket for spoiling Shah’s image. He added that they would lose their grip over ICC in case Shah comes to power and that’s the reason they are jittering. He also questioned about the role their representatives played during the ICC meeting.

“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. 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 what were their own representatives at the ICC doing at the meeting?” Gavaskar wrote in his column in Sportstar.

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“Their basis of criticism was only because they realized they won't be having power over the game anymore. Where were their voices of objection? And if there were none, then they were as culpable as the one they were unnecessarily pointing a finger at. It's called the Tall poppy syndrome as well as the realization that they don't run the international game anymore,” he added.

Notably, Shah has done a terrific job as BCCI secretary. He played a vital role in introducing equal pay for men’s and women’s cricket in India and most recently, he also introduced a system to promote red-ball cricket in India. Shah also announced prize money for Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament in all Women’s and Junior Cricket tournaments amongst various other achievements.