Bengaluru, July 1: The International Cricket Council (ICC) Chairman Shashank Manohar on Wednesday (July 1) stepped down after two, two-year tenures at its helm.
The ICC Board met on Wednesday and agreed that Deputy Chairman Imran Khwaja will assume the responsibilities of the Chairperson until a successor is elected. The process for the Chairperson election is expected to be approved by the ICC Board within the next week.
ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said: "On behalf of the ICC Board and staff and the whole cricket family, I would like to thank Shashank for his leadership and everything he has done for the sport as ICC Chairman. We wish him and his family all the very best for the future."
ICC Deputy Chairman Imran Khwaja said: "Everyone on the ICC Board extends their wholehearted thanks to Shashank for the commitment he has shown to our sport. There is no doubt that cricket owes Shashank a debt of gratitude for all he has done for the sport. He has left cricket and the ICC in a better place than he found it."
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)'s Colin Graves is widely tipped to take over as the new chairman of the cricket's global cricketing body in August. However, the name of Sourav Ganguly, the former Indian captain and the current BCCI president, too is doing the rounds.
However, neither Ganguly nor BCCI have not made any official statement regarding his candidature for the top post. The BCCI had approached the Supreme Court for the extension of Ganguly's term as the BCCI supremo but the case has since been kept on pending. The tenure of Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah will end this month and they will have to enter the mandatory cooling period as per the new BCCI constitution drafted by the Lodha Committee.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani too was touted to be in the running for the ICC post but he had withdrawn from the race a couple of weeks back, saying his focus remained firmly on the cricket in his country.