Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ehsan Mani has emerged as the latest name to be in contention for the International Cricket Council Independent Chair.
The ICC Board on Wednesday is scheduled to announce the election process to pick the successor of Independent Chair Shashank Manohar, who has declined to seek a third successive term.
According to information available with SportzFront, some ICC Board members had approached the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman to file his nomination for the elite office of governance for world cricket.
Mani, who had taken reigns of the PCB after being influenced by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, is being persuaded by some of the Test-playing nations to return to the ICC, where he had been a past president from 2003 to 2006.
Mani, a qualified chartered accountant, at present is also heading the powerful Financial and Commercial Affairs committee of the ICC.
PCB chairman’s inclusion can make the ICC Chair election a three-way contest between England and Wales Cricket Board Chairman Colin Graves, Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sourav Ganguly, who is also being tipped as a contender, and Mani.
However, there is still no confirmation on Ganguly joining the fray. Graves who till last month appeared sole candidate for the ICC Chairman’s office may still get support from the BCCI and Ganguly might just not file his nomination.
People backing Mani for the ICC Chair are said to be opposed to strong Indian influence in world cricket. If the election is decided on those lines, then BCCI can go all out to keep the PCB candidate out and back Graves.
The election process for the Chair will be high on agenda of the Board conference tomorrow (Wednesday), besides discussion on the fate of the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia and ratification of the other decisions. Despite all these important items to deliberate on, a stormy debate is not ruled out on the report of the ICC Ethics Officer on the breach of confidentiality within in board.
The conference is scheduled to start at 2 pm UAE time (IST 3.30 pm).