Shashank bows out as ICC chief

● With Shashank Manohar stepping down as the chairman of the International Cricket Council, the process for the election of the next chairperson is expected to be approved by the ICC Board within the next week.

Dubai, July 1: Shashank Manohar on Wednesday stepped down as the International Cricket Council’s first independent chairman, ending a stint which coincided with the BCCI losing its influence in the world body.

Manohar took charge as ICC Chairman in November 2015. His deputy Imran Khwaja, from Hong Kong, will be the interim chairman.

“ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar has stepped down after two, two-year tenures at its helm. The ICC Board met today and agreed that Deputy Chairman Imran Khwaja will assume the responsibilities of the Chairperson until a successor is elected,” ICC stated in a release.

The process for the election of the next chairperson is expected to be approved by the ICC Board within the next week.

Former ECB chairman Colin Graves and India’s Sourav Ganguly are the main contenders even though the former India skipper’s candidature depends on the whether Supreme Court would allow him to continue as BCCI President by relaxing the cooling off norms mandated by the Lodha administrative reforms.

As per the current constitution, Ganguly’s six years as office-bearer in state and BCCI end on July 31 and he is qualified to take over the ICC chairmanship.

Manohar’s exit from the scene couldn’t have come at a better time for the BCCI, which is desperate to hold the IPL in the October-November window instead of the ICC T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in Australia.