Shashank Manohar steps down as ICC chairman

The ICC Board has decided that deputy chairman Imran Khwaja will assume the responsibilities of the chairperson until a successor is elected.

Published : Jul 01, 2020 18:07 IST

Shashank Manohar steps down after successfully completing his stint at ICC.

Shashank Manohar has formally stepped down as the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman after heading cricket’s global governing body for four years.

Singapore’s Imran Khwaja, who was the deputy chairman, has been elevated as the interim chairman until the process for the next chairman’s election is finalised.

Confirming Manohar’s departure and Khawaja’s elevation, an ICC statement on Wednesday stated that the ICC Board is “expected” to approve the election procedure for the successor “within the next week”.

READ: ICC Board members discuss chairmanship election process

Manohar, who made a surprising return as the BCCI chief in 2015 following Jagmohan Dalmiya’s death, resigned from the BCCI and took over as the first independent chairman of ICC in 2016. After serving two two-year terms, he had revealed to Sportstar  earlier this year he would step down after the completion of his term.

The grapevine has been abuzz with Manohar’s successor. Despite Khwaja being an aspirant and BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly being a rank outsider, this publication understands that England’s Colin Graves remains the favourite to assume responsibility during the ICC’s annual conference, likely to be held next month.

READ: Former West Indies boss joins race for ICC chairman’s post

The highlight of Manohar’s tenure remained breaching the BCCI’s dominant position in sharing ICC’s revenue. During the tenure of Manohar’s predecessor N. Srinivasan as the ICC president, the ICC revenue model was tilted in favour of India - along with England and Australia - since a majority of ICC sponsorships came from the Indian market. Manohar’s regime brought parity to the revenue model, thus drawing wrath of his erstwhile BCCI colleagues.