Shashank Manohar, the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since November 2015, stepped down after two two-year terms at the helm. Manohar’s decision to quit as chairman, after his second two-year term came to an end last week. The governing body’s deputy chairman and Manohar’s confidante, Imran Khwaja, “will assume the responsibilities of the chair until a successor is elected,” the ICC statement said.
A process for the election to appoint Manohar’s successor will be approved by the ICC board within the next few days. “We wish him and his family all the very best for the future,” ICC CEO Manu Sawhney, who was brought on board during Manohar’s second term, said in the statement.
Manohar’s long-time adversary and former chairman of the ICC, N Srinivasan, called the former’s exit “a blessing to Indian cricket”. “Shashank knows he cannot afford to represent India and use that as a vehicle for his convenience. Knowing that there is no chance (for another term), he has run away. He has hurt Indian cricket’s finances, he has been anti-India and has reduced India's importance in world cricket. Good riddance,” Srinivasan said.
The processes for nomination and election for the next ICC chairman will begin post the approval of the ICC board. England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Colin Graves is once again the front-runner for the role. The names of BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani had been doing the rounds even as Manohar – despite his statement two weeks ago that he would not be seeking a re-election to the chair – always remained in contention to continue.
