Jay Shah: BCCI’s crisis man redefining international cricket

“We will not travel to Pakistan”. With this one statement, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah created a massive storm. He was referring to Pakistan hosting the Asia Cup in 2023. Shah, who is incidentally also the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief, made it clear that India will demand a neutral venue for the Asia Cup.

The usage of the word “demand” is a clear indication of how confident Shah and BCCI are in pulling off the move. Unsurprisingly, the International Cricket Council (ICC) hasn’t shared its views on the controversy. It is unlikely they will. With the clout that Shah holds in world cricket administration courtesy of his position, it is more or less clear how things are going to pan out.

Of course, there is a massive debate over whether the likely move to shift the Asia Cup 2023 out of Pakistan is the right or wrong one. What cannot be denied, though, is that Shah seems to have become BCCI’s crisis man, who, in his own way, is redefining international cricket.

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Creating two-and-a-half-month window for IPL

One of Shah’s biggest achievements as BCCI secretary has been to eke out a two-and-a-half-month window for the board’s million dollar baby - the Indian Premier League (IPL).

In an interview with PTI earlier this year, Shah revealed that the IPL will have an official two-and-a-half month window for upcoming editions. This was much before ICC’s 2023-2027 Future Tours Programme (FTP) was announced. The BCCI secretary had commented:

“Let me inform you that from the next ICC FTP calendar, IPL will have an official two-and-a-half month window so that all the top international cricketers can participate. We have had discussions with various boards as well as the ICC.”

And it was hardly any surprise when the FTP was officially announced. The biggest window in the next FTP cycle has been reserved for the IPL. There is very little international cricket that will be played from the middle of March to the end of May in the 2023-2027 period.

This will allow big names from across the globe to take part in the T20 event in India without much hindrance. Apart from Pakistan, players from all top cricketing nations feature in the IPL.

Other countries have also been given their own windows for their T20 leagues, but they are much smaller ones. Australia have had to reduce their white-ball games in January so their big names can be available for the Big Bash League (BBL), which hasn’t been the case in recent years.

Bangladesh have been given January for the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), while the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has a window for the Hundred in August. Similarly, the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) have also been allotted their respective windows.

Above all, though, the duration of the world’s most lucrative T20 cricket tournament will now be just a little under what constitutes one quarter of the financial year - all this at a time when cricketers are complaining of fatigue and mental health issues due to excessive cricket.

A superstar like Ben Stokes quit ODIs earlier this year, stating that playing in all three formats given the current choc-a-bloc cricket calendar was “unsustainable” for him. New Zealand left-arm quick Trent Boult gave up his central contract and is now likely to play a lot less international cricket. Even Indian legend Virat Kohli has spoken about excessive cricket affecting his mental state, as a result of which there was a phase when he didn’t feel like picking a cricket bat.

Amid all this, managing a huge window for the IPL in the upcoming years is nothing short of a coup.

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Jay Shah’s role at ICC

In April this year, BCCI secretary Shah was appointed to the ICC Cricket Committee as the Member Board Representative. While Sourav Ganguly has been replaced as BCCI chief by former India all-rounder Roger Binny, Shah remains the board secretary as well as their representative at the ICC.

Back in 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shah grabbed the spotlight as he took the lead during ICC’s chief executive committee (CEC) meeting. Making a clear statement on India’s role in charting the future of the game, he had said via teleconference:

“In the given scenario, there are pressing points that need to be addressed. We understand the apprehensions that may arise for many cricket boards at this juncture and the BCCI will do its best to support the fraternity. India will lead the way in charting out the future course of action."

Whether Shah and BCCI’s moves are fair or not is a different debate altogether. But when it comes to the question of dictating terms, the answer is pretty obvious.

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