Mumbai: BCCI secretary Jay Shah was appointed as the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Saturday (January 30). The 32-year-old Shah becomes the youngest to take charge of the post, taking over the reins from Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) chief Nazmul Hussain. The position is rotated among the full members of the Asian boards every two years.
“I accept this honour and I thank my esteemed colleagues at the BCCI for nominating me and considering me worthy of this prestigious position,” Shah said on Saturday.
“Formed with a view to organize, develop and promote the sport in the region, the ACC has steadily grown in stature. The ACC continues to foster healthy rivalry among some of the biggest cricket playing nations while it also takes the sport deeper into the smaller pockets. We must remain committed to this cause and ensure there is an all-round development in the region.”
NEWS : Mr Jay Shah, Hon. Secretary, BCCI appointed Asian Cricket Council President.
More details here – https://t.co/9XHTgZgBii pic.twitter.com/kjI8YnyTc1
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 30, 2021
“The pandemic has posed enormous challenges but history has shown that innovation often arises in periods of adversity and we must adapt and innovate to stay ahead. While I have noticed that most Boards have again started their cricketing operations with their senior team, the challenge still remains with women’s cricket and age-group cricket. The ACC has done pioneering work in both women’s cricket and age-group with the multiple tournaments it conducts across the year and we must build on this.”
The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board Ehsan Mani told Cricbuzz, “It is a smooth transition in the ACC. It is the turn of the BCCI and it is their prerogative to have whoever it wishes as the ACC president. My best wishes to him.”
“I congratulate Mr Jay Shah for being appointed the new ACC President. We have worked closely, and I am well aware of his plans and vision to develop the game of cricket. I have personally experienced the zeal with which he worked to bring a turnaround in Chandigarh, Uttarakhand and North-eastern states in setting up the cricketing infrastructure and setting up the ecosystem,” BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly, who is under treatment in Apollo Hospital after Angioplasty said in a statement.
“It is definitely a challenging phase, but I am confident he will successfully navigate the challenges posed by the virus. The BCCI will extend every help and will play a big role in rebuilding and restructuring of the cricketing activities in Asia,” Ganguly added.
One of the significant challenges before Shah would guide the Asia Cup, on the other hand is the tournament which has serious sensitive outline because of the participation of traditional rivals, India and Pakistan. The 2020 edition of the tournament could not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has been postponed to June 2021.
