After Jay Shah, who is the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman, another Indian has been appointed to an important position in the ICC.The International Cricket Council on Monday named Sanjog Gupta as its new chief executive officer, a senior official at India's key broadcaster of the game.Gupta, the ICC's seventh CEO, succeeds Geoff Allardice, who resigned from the post in January after four years in office.

Gupta was broadcaster JioStar's chief executive for sports and live experiences.ICC chairman Jay Shah said Gupta "brings extensive experience in sports strategy and commercialisation, which will be invaluable for the ICC". The role attracted more than 2,500 applications from candidates across 25 countries, the ICC said.

"These are exciting times for the sport as marquee events grow in stature, commercial avenues widen and opportunities such as the women’s game scale in popularity," Gupta said in a statement. "Cricket's inclusion in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and the rapid acceleration of technology deployment/adoption could act as force-multipliers for the cricket movement around the world." Gupta’s appointment has been made under the recruitment process that began in March.

As many as 2,500 applications were received from 25 countries for the post from which 12 candidates were shortlisted.  "Candidates ranged from leaders associated with sport's governing bodies to senior corporate executives from across sectors," the ICC said. The nominations were forwarded to the committee, comprising ICC Deputy Chairman Imran Khawaja, ECB Chairman Richard Thompson, SLC President Shammi Silva and BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia, who recommended Gupta for the role.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)