SECRETARY JAY SHAH HAS PUT BCCI IN THE LEAGUE OF THE WORLD'S TOP SPORTS BODIES.NOW SET TO TAKE CHARGE AS CHAIR OF INTERNATIONAL CRICKET COUNCIL, SHAH DISCUSSES WITH FORTUNE INDIA HOW HE DID IT AND THE PLANS TO GLOBALISE CRICKET.

YOU HAVE TAKEN Indian cricket and its administration to number one in the world.

- ASHUTOSH KUMAR

How did you conceive this when you started and how did you achieve this?

Not many people are aware of my background. I started my career in 2009 with the Central Board of Cricket in Ahmedabad. I was just 21. After taking over as an executive member of the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA), I decided that players should be taken care of. We ensured nutritious food, good infrastructure and transparent selection.

By 2013, I got elected as joint secretary of the board. Between 2009 and 2019, before joining BCCI, we won our maiden Ranji Trophy; we won two Syed Mushtaq Ali trophies and one Vijay Hazare Trophy. If you provide the best facilities and good coaches and infrastructure, you can achieve anything. After that, I became a finance committee member and a marketing committee member in BCCI. This enhanced my learning curve. In 2019, colleagues encouraged me to contest for the post of BCCI secretary.

I did the same thing in BCCI. By 2022, we became number one in all formats. In 2008, the government allocated land to the National Cricket Academy. Fortunately, I got a chance to work on it. We worked hard. We have just inaugurated the new centre of excellence. For us, mental space, food and world-class training are paramount. We started a national talent search. Jasprit Bumrah came out of GCA’s talent search. We went to small towns. Axar Patel is from Nadiad, a very small town. So, as an administrator, cricket is everything for us. But I also make it a point to appoint good cricketers such as V.V.S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid and entrust them with the task of hunting for talent and bringing them to Team India.

Most consider Jay Shah the most influential administrator in cricket in India and the world. Do you agree?