The incumbent secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Jay Shah is all set to begin another enterprising journey as a cricket administrator as he has been elected as the new chairman of the ICC.
While Shah may not have encountered any roadblocks in succeeding Greg Barclay as he was elected unopposed as the new chairman, his three-year tenure is filled with imminent challenges and a few of them require immediate and undivided attention.
Challenges for Jay Shah as ICC Chairman
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan
The first and foremost challenge for Shah is the smooth conduct of the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan and to ensure India's participation in the tournament.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is the host of the forthcoming edition of the Champions Trophy and the tournament is likely to be played between February and March 2025.
Notably, Pakistan is plagued by the menace of terrorism and therefore there are several security concerns around hosting the tournament in the country.
The country has become a safe haven for extremists and several terrorist groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi among others and it is predominantly the reason why it has not hosted any ICC event since the 1996 ODI World Cup.
It was Lashkar-e-Jhangvi that had carried out a deadly attack on the team bus of the Sri Lankan cricketers en route to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on the third morning of the second Test match in March 2009.
The attack caused severe injuries to Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paravitarana. Six security personnel and two civilians were also killed in the dastardly attack.
On September 17, 2021, the New Zealand cricket team called off its tour of Pakistan minutes before the start of the first ODI in Rawalpindi citing security concerns. It was followed by England withdrawing from their T20I tour of Pakistan scheduled in mid-October 2021 for the same reason.
India's participation in the ICC Champions Trophy
India have not toured Pakistan since the ACC Asia Cup 2008 as the political relations between the two countries have soured over the years.
As things stand, it seems unlikely that Team India will travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy.
Therefore, if the Men in Blue don't get a green flag from the Government of India to travel to the neighbouring country, the ICC will have to look for another venue which could host India's matches. The entire ordeal will pose major logistical challenges and Jay Shah will have to ace them all.
Sustainability of Test and ODI cricket
Cricket West Indies (CWI) among other cricket boards has called for a more equitable distribution of revenue among all the boards.
Johnny Grave the CEO of CWI has questioned the revenue-share model and warned the ICC of grave consequences if it's not fixed asap.
"The revenue-share model is completely broken," Grave had said. "If we really want to operate as a cricketing community we are only as strong as the weakest team, and we've got to change the mindset of bilateral cricket."
It was this revenue model that had forced Cricket South Africa (CSA) to send a makeshift squad to New Zealand in February for a two-match Test series. The majority of South Africa's first-choice players were held back in the country to participate in the second edition of SA20 as its success is more profitable for CSA rather than indulging in bilateral series against teams like New Zealand.
"They (West Indies) haven't picked a full-strength Test team for a couple of years now," Steve Waugh had told the Sydney Morning Herald while commenting on the CWI sending second-string squads for overseas Test tours. "If the ICC or someone doesn't step in shortly, then Test cricket doesn't become Test cricket, because you're not testing yourself against the best players."
Test cricket is losing its sheen in countries like Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa among others and therefore empty stands during Test matches have become a common occurrence in these nations.
Akin to Tests, ODI cricket is also losing the fanfare it once enjoyed. Several experts of the game have raised concerns over the conduct of the bilateral ODI series by saying that it hardly serves any purpose.
The 50-over was the only white-ball format available for the viewers to tune into before the onset of T20. Hence, what once was a highly marketable and profitable format has now started to lose its sheen.
Taking that into consideration, Shah has to be prepared for the challenge that will come his way when South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia will co-host the next edition of the ODI World Cup in 2027.
While one can expect people to throng into the stadiums in South Africa and Zimbabwe, it's hard to ascertain whether the matches in Namibia would draw as many eyeballs as they should and do justice to the magnitude of the event.
Growing clashes between franchise and international cricket
Arguably the most pressing concern other than the Champions Trophy for Jay Shah is to strike the right balance between the T20 franchise leagues and international cricket.
The proliferation of T20 leagues worldwide is stealing bilateral cricket's thunder. Several star players have already turned down central contracts from their respective boards to cash in more lucrative opportunities offered by franchise competitions around the world.
Trent Boult, Kane Williamson, Andre Russell, and Nicholas Pooran are some of the superstars of the game who have declined central contracts and it has impacted their respective boards. The absence of star players will deprive international cricket of the eyeballs which it would otherwise be getting.
Therefore, Shah needs to brainstorm and devise a plan that could allow the franchise tournaments to build their identity gradually without pushing international cricket to the brink of extinction.
