Jay Shah Asserts No Team Bigger Than ICC; Delivers Special Message For Victorious India

International Cricket Council Chairman Jay Shah broke his silence and made his thoughts clear on the fiasco and drama that had surrounded right before the start of the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka.

Exactly a month before the tournament's start, Bangladesh were threatening to pull out from the T20 World Cup unless all of their matches were shifted to the Sri Lankan island.

That was because of the growing political tussle between the two countries at the time. It all began after the killing of an innocent minority Hindu in Bangladesh, which not only triggered communal tensions but also interfered cricketing matters.

Following the Indian Government's advisory, the Board of Control for Cricket in India then asked for the exodus of Bangladeshi players from Indian Premier League franchises, which led to the cancellation of pacer Mustafizur Rahman's 9-crore contract with the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Furious with the decision, the Bangladesh Cricket Board retaliated by first banning the broadcast of IPL in the country, followed by threats of boycotting the T20 World Cup.

After a series of meetings and negotiations, the ICC ultimately punished Bangladesh by ousting and replacing them from the World Cup with Scotland.

There were also threats from Pakistan about not showing up for the high-profile Indo-Pak match in Colombo to extend their support to Bangladesh.

But not only did Pakistan end up playing against India, they lost comprehensively and then watched the Men in Blue win back-to-back T20 World Cups.

Jay Shah Clarifies 'No One Bigger Than ICC'

In what was his first time speaking on this matter, Jay Shah did not hold back at all. During his recent appearance at the Indian Business Leader Awards 2026, the ICC Chairman reiterated that no team is bigger than the game or its apex governing body.

The 37-year-old also shed light on the uncertainty that clouded the T20 World Cup before its start.

"This ICC World Cup was very important because there was a lot of chatter before the start of the tournament about whether certain teams would participate and how the World Cup would go ahead.

"As ICC chairman, I can say that no team is bigger than the organisation and no single team makes an organisation. An organisation is a combination of all teams." - Jay Shah said in his IBLA addressal.

The former BCCI secretary also highlighted the record-breaking viewership of the World Cup and the impressive rise of Associate nations, specifically praising Zimbabwe, the USA, and Nepal for their performances.

"The World Cup has shattered all viewership records. For the first time in history, we recorded 7.2 million concurrent viewers. All records were broken in overall viewership.

"If you see, the USA gave India a hard time, the Netherlands troubled Pakistan, Zimbabwe beat Australia and Nepal gave England a scare. I congratulate all the associate teams - they have done very well against the full members." - Jay Shah added.

Special Message For Team India: Build-Up For LA 2028

Jay Shah concluded his addressal with a message to Indian T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir, who were also present in the event.

He asked the duo to keep working hard and refrain from complacency in order to stay on top. Furthermore, the ICC chairman asked the Indian team to start building up strong for the return of cricket at the LA 2028 Olympics and the competitions to follow.

"I have a message for Surya and Gautam Bhai - slipping from the top to the bottom takes only months, while climbing from the bottom to the top takes years. Keep working hard and keep winning awards.

"When I was in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), I had planned till the 2028 Olympics. Now I am in the ICC and others are in charge at the BCCI. All of you should prepare for 2030, 2031 and even 2036." - Jay Shah concluded.