ICC President Jay Shah criticized Pakistan and Bangladesh without naming them and said that no team is bigger than the institution. He said this in the context of before the start of T20 World Cup 2026, when there was doubt over the playing of his teams. Bangladesh had to pull out of the tournament after deciding not to play in India, while Pakistan was also threatening a boycott. Shah also praised the excellent performance of small teams in the tournament.
During an awards program organized in Mumbai, Jay Shah said, “The ICC World Cup was so important because before the start of the tournament, many people were discussing whether this team will play or not? How will the World Cup happen? But being the President of the ICC, I want to tell you that there is nothing bigger than an institution. An institution is not made by any one team, all the teams together make an institution. You know that this time all the records have been broken in viewership also.”
The ICC President further said, “This World Cup proved to be very important. We saw USA defeat India in the first match. Netherlands defeated Pakistan and Zimbabwe defeated Australia. Nepal defeated England. Therefore, I would like to congratulate all the Associate Nations for giving tough competition to the Full Member teams.”
Message given to Team India
Jai Shah gave a message to Team India from the stage. He said, “This is my 17th year as an administrator. It takes months to go from the top to the bottom and it takes years to go from the bottom to the top. You have to sustain, so you work so hard that you get awards like this every year.”
