Jay Shah ranked above Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma in 100 most powerful Indians list

BCCI secretary Jay Shah has been placed higher than cricket superstars such as MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the list of “100 Most Powerful Indians” in 2024 released by The Indian Express.

Jay Shah has been placed at the 35th spot while Kohli at the 38th spot is the highest-ranked cricketer on the list. On the other hand, Dhoni and Rohit are placed at 58th and 68th positions respectively. The news outlet called the BCCI official as ‘easily the most powerful man in world cricket’.

While Jay Shah entered the world of cricket administration in 2013 with the Gujarat Cricket Association, he joined BCCI as its secretary in 2019. In 2021, he became the youngest president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and was re-elected for the same post earlier this year. During his tenure as the BCCI secretary so far, the Women’s Premier League was launched last year while India also hosted the ODI World Cup.

“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 per cent to 38.5 per cent.

“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 added.

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Cricketers ranked below Jay Shah:

Kohli was the highest-ranked cricketer in the list. Writing about the star batsman, the Express stated: “He is no longer the Indian captain nor an important decision-maker but there is no bigger name in Indian cricket than Virat Kohli.”

Kohli is currently out of action and is with his wife Anushka Sharma who recently gave birth to the couple’s second child – Akaay. The former India captain is set to return to action next month when the Indian Premier League gets underway. Kohli’s former India teammate and captain Dhoni is the second-highest-ranked cricketer on the list.

“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-equalling fifth IPL title. Regardless of geography, Dhoni is still among Indian cricket’s biggest draws,” the Express stated.

Writing about Rohit, the news outlet stated: “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.”

Kohli, Dhoni, and Rohit were the only cricketers on the list. The other sportspersons on the list are Olympic gold medal-winner javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and wrestler Vinesh Phogat.

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