New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS): Persatuan Cricket Indonesia chairman Abhiram Singh Yadav has confirmed that he is entering the race for the vacant Associate Member position on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC).
The vacancy arose after France’s Gurumurthy Palani was elected to the ICC Board at its annual conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, in July. The elected representative will serve the remaining 10 months of the two-year term alongside current members Gurdeep Klair and Anuraag Bhatnagar until fresh elections are held next year.
“One member may be advanced in an area where another is only beginning, and somewhere else the position may be reversed. There is enormous knowledge within Associate cricket. We should be sharing it and helping each other to make progress in cricket,” Yadav told IANS on Monday.
Yadav is the sole candidate from Asia and the East Asia-Pacific (EAP) regions, while the others are from Europe: Sarah Gomersall (CEO, Jersey Cricket), Rashid Khan (Royal Dutch Cricket Association/KNCB), and Vignesh Sankaran (Vice-President, Deutscher Cricket Bund – Germany).
An electoral college of 43 Associate nations – comprising 14 votes from Asia, six from EAP, 11 from Africa, 10 from Europe, and two from the Americas – will elect the representative, though the USA and Canada are ineligible to vote.
Campaigning on a platform of structured consultation and equal opportunity, Yadav has set out six core priorities: strengthening the Associate voice, expanding competitive pathways, ensuring fair resource allocation, building knowledge-sharing networks, leveraging multi-sport events such as the Olympics, and maintaining post-election accountability.
“These are not six prescriptions that every country must follow in the same way. They are areas where I believe representation can make a practical difference. The priorities within them have to come from the Members themselves.
“Some countries may need infrastructure, some more meaningful competition, others stronger domestic cricket, coaching, women’s and youth pathways, governance or commercial capability. The approach has to be global in outlook, but relevant in application,” he added.
Under Yadav’s leadership, Indonesia reached the inaugural 2023 ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup and made its debut in the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup in Dubai. He’s also looking into inaugurating permanent turf grounds as part of the Bali International Oval project – a move publicly praised by ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta.
“What works in Indonesia may not work in another country. Every Member has a different culture, geography, resources and sporting environment. I don’t believe Associate cricket should ever become one region against another. If Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and East Asia-Pacific all become stronger, then Associate cricket collectively becomes stronger.
“I don’t claim to have every answer. I will listen before I speak, learn before I decide, represent fairly and, if given the responsibility, I will serve with humility, preparation and accountability,” he concluded.
