Jay Shah: from BCCI secretary to ICC chairman

Jay Shah has been in senior cricket administration for about a decade. He is now the chairman of the International Cricket Council. Here is the sequence, with dates.

How he got here

• 2013: joint secretary of the Gujarat Cricket Association. During this period the association built the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
• 2015: joins the BCCI finance and marketing committees.
• 24 October 2019: elected BCCI secretary, the youngest of the five office bearers. He was re-elected in October 2022.
• January 2021: becomes president of the Asian Cricket Council.
• 1 December 2024: takes over as ICC chairman, after being elected unopposed. He left the BCCI secretary role on 8 December 2024.

The ICC route

Shah became the BCCI's representative at ICC Chief Executives' Committee meetings in December 2019. In April 2022 he was appointed the BCCI's board member at the ICC, and in November 2022 he was elected head of the ICC's Finance and Commercial Affairs committee. When he took over as chairman on 1 December 2024 he replaced Greg Barclay, whose second term had started in 2022, and was elected unopposed. His deputy chairman is Imran Khwaja.

The Asian Cricket Council years

The ACC presidency normally rotates between Asian full members. When Shah was re-elected in January 2024, it was Sri Lanka's turn next, but Sri Lanka Cricket chief Shammi Silva proposed extending Shah's term and the other members accepted. Silva succeeded him in December 2024.

What changed at the BCCI under him

The biggest commercial moment was the 2022 IPL media rights sale. The five-year rights went for a total of ₹48,390 crore, which made the IPL the second most valuable sports league in the world by per-match value, behind the NFL.

The board also launched the Women's Premier League during this time, and it hosted a men's World Cup at home in 2023.

Cricket at the Olympics

Shah sat on the ICC Olympics Working Group, which worked on getting cricket into the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Cricket was last played at the Olympics in 1900.

In December 2023 the Confederation of Indian Industry gave him its Sports Business Leader of the Year award, citing the launch of the Women's Premier League.

Criticism and open questions

Not everyone agrees on how the BCCI has used its financial weight. After the 2025 Pahalgam attack, an opposition MP alleged that Shah pressured India into playing Pakistan. These are claims by critics, not findings, and they are best read alongside the official record.

Source for dates and roles: Jay Shah (Wikipedia), which cites ESPNcricinfo, the ICC and The Economic Times.

Why Virat Kohli stepped down as India's Test captain

Virat Kohli stepped down as India's Test captain on 15 January 2022. It came a day after India lost the series in South Africa 2-1, with a seven-wicket defeat in Cape Town in the decider.

The record he left

He had led India in 68 Tests, winning 40, losing 17 and drawing 11. No Indian captain has won more Tests, and only Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh have more wins as captain in the format. His India side won a Test series in Australia and reached the top of the ICC Test rankings.

Some context from his time in charge: his first Test series win as captain came in Sri Lanka, and in 2018 he led India to their first Test series win in Australia. In 2018 he also became the No. 1 ranked Test batter.

What he said

Kohli posted a statement on social media. In it he said it had been "seven years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance" and that he had "done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there." He also wrote that he always believed in giving 120 percent, and if he could not do that, it was not the right thing to do.

He gave no further detail about the decision, and this post will not guess at one.

How the timeline fits

Kohli first led India in red-ball cricket on a temporary basis during the 2014 tour of Australia, and took the job permanently in 2015. By January 2022 he was no longer India's white-ball captain either, as Rohit Sharma had taken over the limited-overs roles a few weeks earlier.

He kept playing Tests under later captains and announced his retirement from the format on 12 May 2025.

Sources: ICC, The Guardian, Sky Sports. Retirement date from Virat Kohli (Wikipedia).

Shikhar Dhawan retires: what he leaves behind

Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement from cricket on 24 August 2024. He was 38. He had been a regular in India's white-ball sides for more than a decade, but his Test and ODI career had slowed in recent years.

What defined him

Dhawan was an ICC-tournament player. He was the leading run-scorer and Player of the Tournament at the 2013 Champions Trophy, which India won, and the leading Indian run-scorer at the 2015 World Cup. In 2018 he scored a century before lunch on the first day of a Test against Afghanistan.

His Test debut remains one of the best on record. Against Australia at Mohali in March 2013 he made 187 off 174 balls, the fastest hundred by any batter on Test debut (85 balls) and the highest score by an Indian on debut.

The numbers he finished with

He played 34 Tests for 2,315 runs at 40.61, with seven hundreds and a top score of 190. His last Test was against England on 7 September 2018. In ODIs he scored 6,793 runs in 167 matches at 44.11 with 17 hundreds, and in T20Is 1,759 runs in 68 matches. He also won the 2016 and 2018 Asia Cups with India, and was in the side that finished runners-up at the 2017 Champions Trophy.

Beyond India's team

Dhawan played for Delhi from 2004 to 2024 and in the IPL for Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings. In August 2013 he made 248 off 150 balls for India A against South Africa A, then the second-highest score in List A cricket. He was also the first Indian to score a century in his 100th ODI, against South Africa in Johannesburg.

Why the end came

Dhawan did not give one detailed reason. What is on record is that he had gone through phases of inconsistent form in domestic and international cricket.

Where to read more

For the career in full, see our Dhawan career profile. Retirement date and career facts are from Shikhar Dhawan (Wikipedia).

Shikhar Dhawan career profile: Delhi to the ICC trophies

Shikhar Dhawan, called "Gabbar" by teammates and fans, made his mark through age-group cricket, a late Test debut and a decade of big tournament runs.

Delhi and the 2004 Under-19 World Cup

Dhawan was born in Delhi on 5 December 1985 and came up through Delhi's age-group sides. His first big stage was the 2004 Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, where he scored 505 runs at an average of 84.16, with three hundreds, and was named Player of the Tournament.

Growing up in Delhi cricket

Dhawan went to St. Mark's Senior Secondary Public School in Meera Bagh and trained from the age of 12 at Sonnet Club under coach Tarak Sinha. He joined as a wicket-keeper. He led the 2000/01 Vijay Merchant Trophy for under-16s with 755 runs in 9 innings at an average of 83.88, and was drafted into Delhi's under-19 side at 15. His first-class debut came against Andhra in November 2004, with 49 in his first innings. He finished that Ranji season as Delhi's top run-getter with 461 runs in 6 matches, including a 130, ahead of senior players such as Ajay Jadeja and Aakash Chopra.

A long wait for India

He made his ODI debut against Australia in October 2010 at Visakhapatnam. His Test debut came more than two years later. He had been third-choice opener on the 2013 tour squad against Australia, got his chance when Virender Sehwag was dropped, and made 187.

The wait was long because the early years did not go smoothly. After his ODI debut in October 2010 he made his T20I debut against the West Indies in June 2011, when India's regular openers were out injured. His form in domestic cricket then improved. In the October 2011 Irani Cup final he made 177 and 155 for Rest of India, and he made 461 runs in the 2012-13 Ranji season. That earned a call-up to the Test squad in February 2013 as the third-choice opener behind Virender Sehwag and Murali Vijay. His Test debut came on 14 March 2013 and he made 187 at Mohali. A hand fracture ruled him out of the fourth Test.

The years that mattered

• 2013: Golden Bat and Player of the Tournament at the Champions Trophy, which India won.
• 2015: India's leading run-scorer at the World Cup.
• 2017: India finished runners-up at the Champions Trophy.
• 2016 and 2018: Asia Cup winner with India.

He also became the first Indian to score a century in his 100th ODI, against South Africa in Johannesburg.

2013 and the numbers

In August 2013 he scored 248 off 150 balls for India A against South Africa A at Pretoria, then the second-highest score in List A cricket. Against Australia in the 2013 home ODI series he made 284 runs in 6 innings at 56.80, including 95 off 86 balls in a chase of 360 at Jaipur. The ICC named him in its World ODI XI for 2013.

His career table: 34 Tests, 2,315 runs at 40.61 with 7 hundreds. 167 ODIs, 6,793 runs at 44.11 with 17 hundreds. 68 T20Is, 1,759 runs at 27.92. In the IPL he played for Delhi Daredevils (2008), Sunrisers Hyderabad (2013 to 2018), Delhi Capitals (2019 to 2021) and Punjab Kings (2022 to 2024).

The end

For how his career closed in August 2024, read our retirement report.

Facts are from Shikhar Dhawan (Wikipedia).

The Indian cricket team: key dates from 1932 to 2026

India's cricket team has gone from a weak side that lost its first Test by 158 runs to one that has won three T20 World Cups. These are the dates that mark that journey.

1926 to 1932: joining the club

India were invited to the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1926 and played their first Test, against England at Lord's, on 25 to 28 June 1932, under C.K. Nayudu. They lost by 158 runs.

The spin quartet and the 1970s

India's bowling in the 1970s revolved around Bishan Singh Bedi, E.A.S. Prasanna, B.S. Chandrasekhar and Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan. Indian pitches suited spin and the four used that to create collapses. The decade also brought Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath.

25 June 1983

India won the World Cup, beating the two-time defending champions West Indies in the final at Lord's, mostly through a strong bowling performance. It changed how many Indians thought about the sport.

The 1980s and 1990s

India built a more attacking batting line-up in the 1980s, with stroke makers such as Mohammad Azharuddin, Krishnamachari Srikanth and Dilip Vengsarkar, and all-rounders Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri. Even so, India stayed a weak Test side for years. The 1986 series win in England was the last Test series win outside the subcontinent for the next 19 years. Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble joined the team in 1989 and 1990, and Javagal Srinath followed a year later.

The 1990s were uneven. India failed to reach the 1992 World Cup knockouts. In the 1996 World Cup semi-final in Kolkata, rioters burnt part of the stadium as India were heading for defeat against Sri Lanka. Tendulkar was the tournament's leading run scorer, the first Indian to be, and Kumble led the wicket-taking. In 1999 India failed to reach the knockouts again, even though Rahul Dravid was the leading run scorer.

Rebuilding under Ganguly

In 2000, Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja were implicated in a match-fixing scandal and given a life ban and a five-year ban. The BBC called it Indian cricket's worst hour. The new core of Tendulkar, Dravid, Kumble and Sourav Ganguly rebuilt the side, helped by India's first foreign coach, John Wright. Under Ganguly India reached the 2000 Champions Trophy final, the first ICC final since 1983, and lost to New Zealand despite Ganguly's century. That run led into the 2002 Champions Trophy and the 2003 World Cup final.

2000 to 2013: the ICC trophies

• 2002: Champions Trophy, the first of a record three.
• 2003: World Cup final, lost to Australia. Sachin Tendulkar set the record for most runs in a single World Cup.
• 24 September 2007: inaugural T20 World Cup, beating Pakistan by five runs in the final.
• 2 April 2011: World Cup at home, beating Sri Lanka in the final.
• 19 June 2013: Champions Trophy. MS Dhoni became the first captain to win all three ICC white-ball trophies.

India reached the 2014 T20 World Cup final in Bangladesh and lost to Sri Lanka. Virat Kohli was player of the tournament and set the record for most runs in a single edition, with 319. In late 2014, MS Dhoni stepped down as Test captain to focus on white-ball cricket.

The numbers today

India have played 1,084 ODIs, winning 577 and losing 453, with 10 ties and 44 no-results. They have played in four World Cup finals and won two, in 1983 and 2011. They have played 297 T20Is, winning 198, and have won the T20 World Cup a record three times, in 2007, 2024 and 2026. They have also won the ODI Asia Cup a record seven times and the Champions Trophy a record three times, in 2002, 2013 and 2025.

2024 to now

India won the 2024 T20 World Cup, unbeaten, beating South Africa in the final on 29 June 2024. They won the 2025 Champions Trophy and then the 2026 T20 World Cup (final report).

Test cricket has been less steady. India lost 3-0 at home to New Zealand in 2024, drew the 2025 England series 2-2, beat the West Indies 2-0 at home and then lost 0-2 at home to South Africa.

Facts are from India national cricket team (Wikipedia).

Virat Kohli: career timeline and records

Virat Kohli was born in Delhi on 5 November 1988. By October 2026 he has retired from T20Is and Tests, and still plays ODIs and the IPL. This is the career in order, with the numbers that matter.

Under-19 captain to India regular

Kohli captained India to the 2008 Under-19 World Cup. He then became part of the senior side that won the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy. In 2013 he was also given the captaincy for the first time, during a tri-series in the West Indies, and scored his first century as captain.

The first years

Kohli was called up to the ODI squad for the tour of Sri Lanka in August 2008, aged 19. Injuries to senior players meant he opened the batting, and he made his first half-century in the fourth match. His place was not safe, though. The turning point was the 2009 Emerging Players Tournament in Australia, where he was the top run-scorer and made a century in the final. He scored his maiden ODI century in December 2009 against Sri Lanka. In 2010 he became the then fastest Indian to 1,000 ODI runs.

The peak years

From 2016 to 2018 he was at his best. He was Player of the Tournament at the 2016 World T20. As captain he led India in 68 Tests (40 wins) and stepped down in January 2022, which we covered in a separate post.

Detail on those years: Kohli became the first batter to score double centuries in four consecutive Test series. In 2018 he became the No. 1 ranked Test batter and led India to their first Test series win in Australia. He was also the fastest to 8,000, 10,000 and 11,000 ODI runs. His ICC awards from that period include ODI Player of the Year in 2012, 2017, 2018 and 2023, and Cricketer of the Year in 2017 and 2018. In 2018 he was the first player to win the Cricketer of the Year, ODI Player of the Year and Test Player of the Year awards in the same year.

The long dry spell and the comeback

At the 2022 Asia Cup he scored his first T20I century. It was his first hundred in any format in more than 1,000 days. At the 2022 T20 World Cup he was the top run-scorer, including an unbeaten 82 against Pakistan.

The 2023 World Cup, at home, was the high point. He scored a record 765 runs in a single edition, won Player of the Tournament, and made his 50th ODI hundred, passing Sachin Tendulkar's record.

Retirements and what came after

• June 2024: India won the T20 World Cup. Kohli was Player of the Match in the final and then retired from T20Is.
• 12 May 2025: retired from Test cricket, at 36.
• 2025: won the Champions Trophy with India, and the IPL with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, a title the franchise had not won in earlier finals in 2009, 2011 and 2016.
• 2026: scored his 54th ODI hundred against New Zealand at Indore, in 91 balls, chasing 337. It was his 85th in international cricket.

The career numbers

Wikipedia's career table lists these figures: 123 Tests and 9,230 runs at 46.85 with 30 hundreds and a top score of 254 not out. In ODIs, 315 matches and 15,080 runs at 59.13. In T20Is, 125 matches and 4,188 runs at 48.69 with one hundred. In ODIs he averages 65.5 when batting second and 51.7 when batting first, and the article notes that 28 of his 51 ODI hundreds, as it counted them at that point, came in run-chases. In the 2025 Champions Trophy he scored a century and became the fastest to 14,000 ODI runs. These totals change every time he plays, so treat them as a snapshot and check ESPNcricinfo for the live figures.

Honours

Arjuna Award (2013), Padma Shri (2017), Khel Ratna (2018).

All facts are from Virat Kohli (Wikipedia) and the ICC report on his captaincy. Check ESPNcricinfo for live career stats.

Four big changes in cricket since 2003

Cricket still looks like the game it was in 1877, but its structure has changed a lot in the last two decades. Four changes stand out.

1. Twenty20 arrived in 2003

T20 started in 2003 as an evening entertainment in England. The first ICC Men's T20 World Cup followed in 2007, and India won it. That win helped push the IPL into existence in 2008.

2. The IPL changed the money

In 2022 the BCCI sold five years of IPL media rights for ₹48,390 crore in total, which made the league the second most valuable in the world by per-match value, behind the NFL.

3. Formats keep getting shorter, and some stay long

The Laws now cover everything from T10, which takes around 90 minutes, to Test matches that can last up to five days. Limited-overs internationals themselves began only in 1971, in Melbourne, as a time-filler after a Test was washed out.

4. Cricket returns to the Olympics

Cricket was played at the Olympics once, in 1900, and is set to return at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Jay Shah was on the ICC working group that pushed for it (his career here).

A look at the road before 2003

Cricket has reinvented itself before. The first limited-overs international was played at the MCG in 1971, as a time-filler after a Test was abandoned because of heavy rain. English counties had introduced a limited-overs competition in 1963, and the ICC staged the first Cricket World Cup in 1975. Then in 1977 the Australian media owner Kerry Packer fell out with the Australian Cricket Board over TV rights and signed many of the world's best players to a private league. World Series Cricket is credited with paving the way for leagues like the IPL.

Who plays Test cricket now

Sri Lanka became the first Associate member to be raised to Test status, in 1982. Zimbabwe followed in 1992 and Bangladesh in 2000. Afghanistan and Ireland became the 11th and 12th Test nations in 2017. The ICC has over 100 members, but only twelve play Tests. Formats shorter than T20 have also appeared in domestic cricket: T10 leagues, and The Hundred in England, where a bowler bowls five balls an over and can bowl two overs in a row.

What did not change

Test cricket still carries the biggest prestige. Look at 2025: India and England drew a five-Test series 2-2, a result that got more attention than most T20 leagues did.

Sources: History of cricket, Jay Shah, India national cricket team (all Wikipedia).

Where does the word cricket come from?

Nobody knows for sure where the word "cricket" comes from. There are several theories, and each rests on a similar-sounding word from an older language.

The theories

• Old English: "cryce" or "cricc", meaning a crutch or staff. Samuel Johnson's dictionary gave this origin, "cryce, Saxon, a stick".
• Old French: "criquet", which seems to have meant a kind of club or stick.
• Middle Dutch "krick(e)": a stick or crook. South-east England had strong trade links with Flanders in the Middle Ages, which makes this a plausible route.
• Middle Dutch "krickstoel": a long, low stool for kneeling in church. It looks like the long, low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket.

The first written record

The earliest accepted reference is a 1598 court case in Guildford, Surrey, about a plot of common land. A 59-year-old coroner, John Derrick, said he and his schoolfriends had played "creckett" on the site about fifty years earlier. That puts the game in Surrey around 1550.

What the game looked like then

The game was already well established in south-east England by the mid-16th century, which is the earliest definite reference. By the 18th century it was an established sport. The Laws were first codified in 1744, and amended in 1774 to add lbw, the middle stump and a maximum bat width. The Hambledon Club in Hampshire was the focal point of the game for about thirty years until MCC was formed and Lord's opened in 1787. MCC has owned and maintained the Laws since 1788, and there are now 42 of them.

That history is one reason the name is so hard to pin down. Rules and equipment changed over the centuries, and bowling moved from underarm to roundarm to overarm in the 19th century. A word borrowed from a stick, a crook or a stool could fit any of them.

Why it matters

The name likely came from the bat, the wicket, or a stool, all of which look unlike modern equipment. We are not told which, and sources that claim a single answer are overstating it.

Source: the Cricket and History of cricket articles (Wikipedia), which cite Johnson's dictionary and linguist Heiner Gillmeister.

Why cricket is so big: what the history says

"Most famous" is hard to prove, so we will skip the ranking. What can be said is why cricket is so large in some countries and what keeps it growing.

It fits many kinds of viewer

The game is built for different attention spans. A T10 match lasts about 90 minutes. A T20 is an evening. A Test can run for up to five days. Each format has its own audience and its own rhythm.

It has a fixed calendar of big moments

India's 1983 World Cup win over West Indies at Lord's, the 2011 World Cup at home and the 2026 T20 World Cup final in Ahmedabad (our report) are reference points for many fans. Rivalries like the Ashes, which began after Australia's win at The Oval in 1882, add history.

It rewards patience and gives you statistics

Every ball produces a number. Fans argue about averages, strike rates and records. That is part of the appeal, and it is why a Kohli or Tendulkar record gets discussed for years.

Its reach is wider than the Test nations

The first international match was played in 1844 between the United States and Canada. Cricket was introduced across colonies and the Imperial Cricket Conference started with three members in 1909. In 2028 it comes back to the Olympics, after one appearance in 1900.

It keeps reinventing itself

Overarm bowling was legalised in 1864, the same year Wisden Cricketers' Almanack first appeared, and W. G. Grace began his long career about then, which did much to raise the game's popularity. Test cricket dates from 1877, when England played two matches against full Australian XIs in Australia. Limited-overs cricket in 1971, T20 in 2003 and the IPL then widened the audience again. Women's cricket has also grown strongly in the 21st century.

Afghanistan is a good example of reach: refugees in Pakistan brought the sport back, and it is now one of the most popular sports in the country. Afghanistan and Ireland became Test nations in 2017.

How big is it

One widely cited ranking puts cricket as the world's second most popular spectator sport after football. Treat that as an estimate rather than a measured fact.

Sources: History of cricket and India national cricket team (Wikipedia).

A short history of cricket, from 1598 to 2008

Cricket has a written history of about 450 years. These are the dates that explain how it became what we watch today.

Before 1700

The earliest accepted reference is a 1598 court case in Guildford about common land. A coroner testified that he had played "creckett" there around 1550. After the English Civil War, the Puritan government clamped down on some sports, though cricket still flourished in fee-paying schools such as Winchester.

1700s: laws and clubs

• 1744: the Laws of Cricket were written down for the first time, then amended in 1774 with lbw, the middle stump and a maximum bat width.
• 1760s: Hambledon club in Hampshire becomes the focal point of the game.
• 1787: the Marylebone Cricket Club forms and Lord's opens.

1800s: going international

The game was organised around county clubs in the 1800s. Sussex came first in 1839, and all the modern county clubs were founded in that century. In 1846 William Clarke created the travelling All-England Eleven, a commercial side that took matches around the country. In 1864 overarm bowling was legalised, and the first Wisden Cricketers' Almanack came out the same year. W. G. Grace began his career at about that time and did a lot to make the sport popular.

The first international match, in 1844, was between club teams from the United States and Canada, played in New York. In 1877 an England team in Australia played two matches that are now counted as the first Tests. In 1882, Australia's win at The Oval gave rise to the Ashes.

1900s: governing bodies and new formats

• 1909: the Imperial Cricket Conference, now the ICC, is founded by England, Australia and South Africa.
• 1932: India play their first Test (their story).
• 1971: the first limited-overs international at the MCG, played as a time-filler after a Test was rained off.
• 1979/80: six-ball overs become the standard in Australia and New Zealand, after eight-ball overs had been used there at times.

How the international game widened

The ICC created Affiliate Member status in 1984 for teams with less history in the game, and renamed itself the International Cricket Council in 1989. Zimbabwe became a Full Member in 1992 and Bangladesh in 2000. Afghanistan and Ireland were both admitted as Test teams in 2018. In 1992 the third umpire arrived, first used for run-out decisions in the South Africa v India series, and his role has grown to cover stumpings, catches, boundaries and reviews of on-field decisions. The ICC introduced a Test Championship table in June 2001 and a one-day international table in October 2002.

2000s to now

T20 begins in 2003, the first T20 World Cup follows in 2007 and the IPL starts in 2008. For what changed since, see recent developments.

Source: History of cricket (Wikipedia).