The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Shashank Manohar has replaced N Srinivasan as the chairman of ICC, cricket's world governing body. Manohar had been signalling his intent to take over and it became official when BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur made the announcement after the board's AGM.
However, there's a twist in this story. The board also announced that Sharad Pawar will represent India at the ICC as an alternate to Manohar whenever the latter is unavailable. According to sources, the decision to bring Pawar on board as Manohar's alternate took quite some time coming at the AGM. Pawar, a former BCCI and ICC president, doesn't hold any current official position in the BCCI other than being a member of the Working Committee by virtue of his being the Mumbai Cricket Association president. It is highly likely now that with Manohar handling key BCCI responsibilities, Pawar may become India's more frequent face at the ICC.
India will get only seven months at the helm of ICC given that Srinivasan's tenure as chairman was to end in June 2016. With the World Twenty20 coming up in March-April next year, it could still be a busy period. In a statement, the ICC acknowledged the change at the top but said it was yet to receive an official message. “The ICC notes media reports, but it is yet to receive an official notification from the BCCI regards its decision to change its nominee to the ICC board,” it said.
“I never aspired for this position,” said Manohar. “I have not been in contact with the ICC the last five years,” he added. The board president, however, did elaborate on Pawar's appointment.“There is a system in the ICC that every country has to nominate an alternate director...Pawar has been nominated as the alternative,” he said.
Apart from being the BCCI president and the ICC chairman, the only other committee that Manohar will be heading in the BCCI is the disciplinary committee, along with Jyotiraditya Scindia and Niranjan Shah.
