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There was a huge upheaval in the International Cricket Council (ICC) when Council Vice President Imran Khawaja, considered one of the most influential figures in world cricket, lost the election of ICC Associate Member Directors.
Imran Khawaja was again considered the favorite to win the vote, but instead, Gurumurthy Palani (France), Mubashir Usmani (UAE) and Rudy van Vuuren (Namibia) have been elected as Associate Member Directors. The election took place during the ICC Annual Conference in Edinburgh on Wednesday.
Imran Khwaja’s crushing defeat
Longtime Associate Members Director and current ICC vice-president Imran Khawaja finished fourth in the voting by just a narrow margin, reports Cricbuzz. While Gurumurthy Palani topped with 35 votes, Khawaja got only 23 votes. In second and third place are Mubashir Usmani and Rudy van Vuuren, who each got 26 votes.
Khawaja’s defeat is being considered a major upset as he is not only the vice-chairman of the council but also has the experience of leading the council on an interim basis when Shashank Manohar resigned from the post of chairman in 2020. He has also served as vice-chairman under ICC president N Srinivasan, Shashank, Greg Barclay and current chairman Jay Shah. Since Khawaja has lost out, the International Cricket Council will have to find his next deputy soon.
Result of election for ICC Associate Member Directors
Among the three candidates who have better votes than the veteran, one is expected to be the next face for the post. It is also important to mention that the votes for USA Cricket and Cricket Canada will remain suspended.
“As per ICC rules, 45 Associate Members are eligible to participate in the election. However, this time only 43 were eligible to vote as USA Cricket and Cricket Canada are suspended. With each voting member having the right to cast three votes, a total of 129 votes were available,” Cricbuzz said in its report on July 8.
It is also reported that while Palani and Vuuren stepped 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 Khawaja.
The last few days were packed with events for top ICC officials as council president Jay Shah and a few other officials visited Lord’s for the final of the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup. After flying to London for the match on Sunday, they traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland for the annual conference.
“Most of the global cricket body’s top officials, including president Jay Shah, were present for the T20 Women’s World Cup final at Lord’s on Sunday and then flew to Scotland for the annual conference. Important cricketing matters will be discussed during the four-day event, which will conclude on July 11, The Times of India reported.
The result of the election has not been officially disclosed yet, as the ICC will also have to announce the name for the post of Deputy Chair in place of Imran Khawaja.
