Manohar elected unopposed as ICC chairman till 2020

saik · May 15, 2018

Shashank Manohar will continue as the ICC chairman until 2020 after he was elected unopposed for a second two-year term. In a media release, the ICC stated that Manohar was the "sole nominee" put forth by the board. As a result, there was no need for an election process, which originally would have been scheduled during the annual conference in June.

In 2016, Manohar had vacated his position as BCCI president to be elected unanimously as the ICC's inaugural independent chairman. Six months in, Manohar said he would step down for personal reasons, but was persuaded by several ICC board members to stay on in the job. Manohar subsequently said he would leave by the end of the first year, halfway into his term. After the same group asked Manohar to reconsider his decision again, he opted to carry on till June this year.

During Manohar's tenure, the ICC has taken significant strides in overhauling its structure and constitution by becoming a more democratic body. Despite stiff resistance, Manohar managed to persuade bigger boards like the BCCI to adopt the new ICC governance structure as well as a new finance distribution model, which would ensure revenue from commercial deals would be shared evenly by both the major and minor members.

Manohar also pushed for reforms in the ICC's constitution including having an independent woman director. Pepsico chairperson Indra Nooyi was appointed as the ICC's first independent woman director earlier this year, and will assume the role formally when she attends the ICC annual conference in Dublin.

On being re-elected, Manohar said he was happy to continue having "fulfilled" the promise he had made when he took over the job two years ago, and was looking forward to the road ahead. "Over the next two years, we can look forward to launching a global strategy for the sport in partnership with our Members so we can grow the game and ensure more of the world can enjoy cricket," Manohar said. "The sport is in good health but we are the guardians of the game and we must continue to work hard to maintain that."