Introduction to India’s Impact on Cricket
Due to its financial strength, political connections, and media, India has long been a significant impact on how cricket is played, broadcast, and ruled all over the world. The concerns of what this means for other competing nations meant that Jay Shah, as chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), increased after the unimpeded election of the politically connected. Shah is still a secretary of the control regulations for cricket in India (BCCI).
The Billion Dollar Participation on the ICC
The BCCI is the richest cricket board in the world and leads the Indian Premier League (IPL), one of the richest and most successful competitions in sport. Between 2024 and 2027, it will probably earn 1.15 billion US dollars (€ 1 billion). Almost 39% of the total turnover of the ICC. This largely comes from the huge sums that broadcasters for television rights pay for a market of over 1.4 billion people and enable India to form everything from tournament plans to ICC media rights.
IPL Influence
The IPL is deeply involved with Indian politics. It is monitored by the BCCI, with the current chairman of the competition, Arun Dhumal – Brother of the BJP Minister Anurag Thakur – underlining direct overlap between political power and cricket government. Thakur, himself, a former BCCI president, was removed by the Supreme Court in 2017 due to mismanagement concerns. Indian stars like Virat Kohli are the main attraction of the IPL, which also attracts the best players from abroad.
The political influence in the IPL goes beyond the leadership. Pakistani players who were shown in the 2008 opening season have been effectively excluded this year since the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. In response to this, the Indian government revoked its visa, and the BCCI fell quietly from all future player auctions. Even IPL planning reflects political realities. In 2009, the entire tournament was moved to South Africa, and in 2014, 20 games were moved to the UAE, as the Indian government said that there could be no security in the national elections.
Jay Shah and the Confluence of Cricket and Politics
The choice of Shah, the son of the Indian Interior Minister Amit Shah, as chairman ICC, supported concerns about the degree of control of the BCCI about global cricket. This double role breaks with previous standards in which the ICC chairman should be independent of every national cricket board. Critics argue that this undermines the role of the ICC as a neutral global government body.
When Shah’s predecessor Greg Barclay was elected to the post in 2020, he resigned as chairman of the New Zealand Cricket. When he resigned as ICC chairman four years later, he implicitly criticized his successor that he had not followed. "We are really lucky enough to have India," said Barclay in an interview. "You are a massive contribution to the game across all measures, but a country with this amount of power and influence distorts many other results, which is not necessarily helpful in terms of this global growth."
Trainer and Politician
Gautam Gambhir, former Indian opener and current head coach of the national team, also played an outstanding double role in both cricket and politics. In 2019, he joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said: "I was influenced by the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), his vision for the country. This is a fabulous platform for me to do something for the country." In March 2024, he announced his exit from active politics to return to cricket full-time before taking over the head coach of the national team.
After a deadly attack in Kashmir in 2025, Gambhir called for a complete freezing for the bilateral cricket with Pakistan and argues that national security should have priority over sports diplomacy – Although this was not a attitude, the BCCI or BJP themselves spoke publicly.
India and Pakistani Relationships Have Been Remedied
In his relationship with Pakistan, India’s influence on cricket is visible. The two countries have not played a bilateral series since 2013, especially due to political tensions after military escalations and terrorist incidents. Shah’s influence after he was appointed chairman of cricket’s global management committee at the beginning of 2025.
While Pakistan had participated in the 2023 ICC World Championship in India under severe security restrictions, the Indian government in November 2024 refused permission that their Cricket team traveled to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy the following year. After a number of compromises and negotiations, the PCB agreed to a mutual deal in which Pakistan’s games at ICC events that have organized India for the next five years are also played at neutral event locations at Shah’s Watch.
Potential New ICC CEO Could Be Indian Media Mogul
According to an examination by British Daily in May 2025, Sanjog Gupa, sports director at Jiostar – India’s largest media conglomerate – Is the leading candidate who will become the next ICC CEO when Geoff Allardice wins the role in July. Jiostar holds a 3-billion-dollar-Rundfunk-Rechte-Deal for ICC events. If Gupta takes on the role, both the ICC chairman and the CEO of Indian nationals would be a structure in which Indian broadcasters have the greatest financial participation.
The Future of a Global Game
India’s rise as a superpower of the World Cricket is based in its financial weight, but is now maintained by political influence and media control. While this has brought the modernization and commercialization to sport, it has also created a monopolistic structure that threatens the variety and equity of the game to the disadvantage of Pakistan and other smaller cricket nations.
