BCCI secretary Jay Shah has beaten the likes of top Indian cricketers Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, and Rohit Sharma in the list of "100 Most Powerful Indians" in 2024 released by The Indian Express.
Shah was ranked 35th, higher than Kohli (38), Dhoni (58), and current Indian men's cricket team captain Rohit (68), and was described by the Indian Express as "easily the most powerful man in world cricket."
Jay Shah successfully launched the Women’s Premier League last year, oversaw the organization of the ICC World Cup in India, and was instrumental in taking cricket to the Olympics.
"Already the youngest Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief, he is in line to become the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman. Shah played a big role in the BCCI’s share of ICC’s revenues nearly doubling — from 22.8 percent to 38.5 percent. This means the BCCI will now get $231 million annually from the international body. The BCCI secretary also got his way during last year’s Asia Cup, refusing to allow India to travel to Pakistan and forcing the hosts to travel to a neutral venue to play India. Shah has unprecedented control over the BCCI that was once known for its intense power struggles and factional fighting," Express stated.
Among sportspersons, former India captain Kohli was the highest-ranked.
"He is no longer the Indian captain nor an important decision-maker but there is no bigger name in Indian cricket than Virat Kohli," Express said.
20 places below Kohli is the legendary MS Dhoni at the 58th position.
"He has long retired from international cricket but April and May — the Indian Premier League (IPL) months — belong to MS Dhoni. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper is rated among the most influential captains to ever play the game. Last year, he guided CSK to a record-equaling fifth IPL title. Regardless of geography, Dhoni is still among Indian cricket’s biggest draws," the list stated.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma is at 68th spot in the list.
"Rohit enjoys the confidence of the BCCI and has a major say in most selection decisions. Be it the call of phasing out seniors for Tests or the sidelining of those preferring IPL over domestic cricket, the Indian captain has been behind these important decisions. Though he lost the franchise captaincy to Hardik Pandya late last year, his sparkling leadership record in IPL makes him a strong voice in the Mumbai Indians dressing room. In a clear signal that his aura has far from faded, the BCCI named him the World T20 captain of a team that will have Pandya,” his description said.
Other sportspersons on the list were Olympic gold medal-winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra at 46 and wrestler Vinesh Phogat at 100.
(Indian Express inputs)
