International Cricket Council (ICC) President Jay Shah is all set to be honored by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for his special contributions to Indian cricket as an administrator.
Shah will receive the honor from BCCI's state units on the sidelines of the Special General Meeting. The meeting will be held on January 12 (Sunday) in Mumbai. The board will also officially elect its new secretary and treasurer.
The posts of secretary and treasurer were earlier vacated by Jay Shah and Ashish Shelar. Shah has made a tremendous impact as the board secretary, which is the main reason why he has been honoured.
Read also: Manoj Tiwary attacks Gautam Gambhir, uses Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as weapons
Jay Shah to be honored by BCCI
Jay Shah has been the BCCI Secretary since October 2019 and also the President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) since January 2021. He will be a “special guest” at the Special General Meeting which has been convened to elect the official the new board secretary. and the treasurer, PTI reported.
He will receive the honor at this meeting. BCCI is set to appoint Devajit Saikia and Prabhtej Singh Bhatia as new secretary and treasurer respectively during this meeting.
Shah was appointed ICC President in August 2024. He was elected unopposed and began his role on 1 December. Shah replaced New Zealand's Greg Barclay in the prestigious role.
Jay Shah's Contributions to Indian Cricket
Jay Shah has played a key role in Indian cricket in various aspects. He introduced the pay structure in women's cricket which was equal to men's to move towards gender equality in the sport.
He introduced the Women's Premier League in 2023, which saw tremendous success in its first two editions. It was a watershed moment in women's cricket in India and can be a game changer in the future.
Shah was also responsible for raising the salaries of domestic players in 2021. As per the salary revision, Ranji cricketers who have played more than 40 matches get ₹60,000 per day, while those who have played 21-40 matches are paid ₹50,000 from the 2021–22 season.
From 2016 to 2020, a senior national cricketer earned ₹1,40,000 from a four-day Ranji Trophy game if he was in the playing XI and half the amount if he was on the bench.
Working towards the inclusion of cricket in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games
As ICC president, he recently met top officials of the 2032 Olympics to be held in Brisbane to discuss cricket's inclusion in the Olympics. It should be noted that cricket will mark its historic return to the Olympics after 128 years at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The sport was only played once before 1900, which was just before the First World War. Great Britain and France were the only teams to participate, with the former winning the gold medal.