Asia | Weekend profile

Jay Shah is the most powerful man in cricket

He has been helped by family ties and India’s cricketing might

Board of Control for Cricket in India Secretary Jay Shah hits a ball during the inauguration ceremony of Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) Indoor Academy in Ahmedabad, India.
Photograph: Reuters

JAY SHAH has arrived at the top of world cricket at the speed of a fast yorker. In 2009, barely into his 20s, he was a small-time cricket official in Ahmedabad in the western Indian state of Gujarat. A decade later, he began running the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the national governing body. And on December 1st he became, at 36, the youngest-ever chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), which manages the game globally. He thanked the ICC’s directors for unanimously voting him into the role.

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