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Massive upset in the International Cricket Council (ICC) as the deputy of the Chairman of the Council, Imran Khwaja, who is considered one of the most influential figures in world cricket, was defeated in the election for Associate Member Directors of the ICC.
Imran Khwaja was again considered the favourite to win the vote, but instead, Gurumurthy Palani (France), Mubashir Usmani (UAE) and Rudie van Vuuren (Namibia) have been elected as Associate Member Directors. The election was held during the ICC Annual Conference in Edinburgh on Wednesday.
Imran Khwaja suffers a shock defeat
As Cricbuzz reported, Imran Khwaja, the long-serving Associate Members' Director and the current ICC Deputy Chairman, finished fourth in the voting by only a few margins. While Gurumurthy Palani topped the election result with 35 votes, Khwaja had only 23. For the second and third places, there are Mubashir Usmani and Rudie van Vuuren, with 26 votes each.
The defeat of Khwaja is considered a massive upset as he is not only the deputy chairman of the council, but also has experience in leading the council on an interim basis when Shashank Manohar resigned from the chair in 2020. He has also served as Deputy Chair under ICC Chairmen N Srinivasan, Shashank, Greg Barclay and the current chairman, Jay Shah. As Khwaja has been defeated, the International Cricket Council will have to find its next deputy soon.
The result of the election for Associate Member Directors of the ICC
Among the three candidates who have a better number of votes than the veteran, one is expected to be the next face for the position. It is also important to mention that the votes of USA Cricket and Cricket Canada remain under suspension.
“As per ICC rules, 45 Associate Members are eligible to participate in the election. However, only 43 were eligible to vote this time as USA Cricket and Cricket Canada remain under suspension. With each voting member entitled to cast three votes, a total of 129 votes were available,” Cricbuzz mentioned in their report on July 8.
It is also reported that while Palani and Vuuren put their strides into the 17-member Board for the first time, Usmani has retained his position.
ICC will have to name the next candidate to replace Imran Khwaja
The past few days were packed with schedules for the top officials of the ICC as Jay Shah, president of the Council, and some of the other officials visited Lord’s for the final of the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup. After visiting London for the match on Sunday, they travelled to Edinburgh, Scotland, for the Annual Conference.
“Most of the top brass of the global cricket body, including chairman Jay Shah, were in attendance for the T20 Women's World Cup final at the Lord's on Sunday and then travelled to Scotland for the Annual Conference. Important cricketing matters will be up for discussion during the four-day event, which culminates on July 11, as informed by the Times of India.
The result of the election is yet to be disclosed officially, as the ICC will have to announce the name for the deputy chair position as well to replace Imran Khwaja.
