Jay Shah, who is currently the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), will headline the ACC annual general meeting (AGM), which is a two-day meeting scheduled in Bali, Indonesia on January 30-31.
He is the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Jay Shah is one of the strongest administrative figures in world cricket and aspires to be the president of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
During the two-day event in Bali, Indonesia, the ACC will hold discussions on broadcast rights, the hosting of the Asia Cup will also be discussed at the meeting with new contenders such as Oman, also in the race to host the multinational tournament.
The Asia Cup is expected to be played in T20 format this time and it will be interesting to see which country hosts the tournament this year. The ACC invited all broadcasters to a dinner on Tuesday.
While the election is not officially on the agenda, it may be discussed during the meeting. Jay Shah currently serves as ACC President, a position that rotates among the full members of the council every two years.
Jay Shah is currently in the middle of his second two-year term, but his continuation depends on his reported move to the role of International Cricket Council (ICC) president, which is an independent position.
Elections for the post of ICC president are scheduled for November and in that regard, the outcome of the ACC meeting will provide indications on various leadership roles in world cricket.
Jay Shah’s administration is one of the best in terms of cricket boards and has generated huge revenue for the BCCI under his role as secretary. The BCCI earns most of its revenue from the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is India’s lucrative T20 league.
Jay Shah to contest elections for ICC president
Jay Shah is expected to contest the election for the new ICC president in November this year. The current President of the ICC is Greg Barclay and he has been President of the ICC since 2020.
Previously, Barclay was president of New Zealand Cricket (NZC) from 2016 to 2020. Jay Shah is expected to leave his position as ACC president to contest the election for ICC president.
Jay Shah holds two of the strongest positions in cricket administration and has been BCCI secretary since 2019. He is the youngest BCCI secretary among five officials. He also served as joint secretary of the Gujarat Cricket Association and also led the construction of the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
He is the son of the current Home Minister of India, Amit Shah. The post of ICC president is an independent position, which means that if Jay Shah wants to contest for the position, he will have to vacate his seat in the ACC and probably in the BCCI as well.