Will Jay Shah Handpick His Successor?

Who will be the next Secretary of the BCCI?  That’s the million dollar question. The incumbent, Jay Shah, has been elected as the independent chairman of the International Cricket Council and the 36-year-old will take charge from December 1. The BCCI’s annual general meeting has been convened in Bengaluru on September 29. The 37-member unit may get hints there of a potential candidate who will fill the big boots of Shah who has been running the BCCI for five years. Shah took definitive calls like shifting the IPL during the pandemic years to the UAE and sustained the money supply to the BCCI’s coffers. Being the son of the Union Minister, Amit Shah, turned out to be an advantage. And hence, his successor will not be seen as Shah-like; the young Secretary even made predictions that India will win the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies, and similar ones for the Women’s Twenty20 World Cup, the World Test Championship and the ICC Champions Trophy. Shah is more likely to handpick his successor and may keep the cards close to his chest till the AGM at Bengaluru. The names of a handful of individuals have been floating around, but is there an experienced candidate who can fit the bill for a job that has been held by seasoned administrators like MV Chandgadkar, Judge Anant Kanmadikar, Ghulam Ahmed, Jagmohan Dalmiya, Ranbir Singh, N Srinivasan, Niranjan Shah, SK Nair, Jaywant Lele, Sanjay Jagdale and Sanjay Patel. All of them came through the ranks in their States and in the BCCI.   Perhaps it’s time to review the cooling off period — after six years — for administrators.