By IANS
Dubai : Former Indian cricket board president I.S. Bindra will work for the promotion and development of the game and help member boards in the smooth conduct of International Cricket Council (ICC) events in his new role as ICC’s principal advisor.
“Much has been speculated about in the media and elsewhere about the new role given to Bindra as ICC principal advisor. Let me tell you that he will have a major role in the promotion and development of the game and assisting member boards in the smooth functioning of ICC events,” ICC president-elect David Morgan said here Tuesday.
Morgan said that Bindra’s new role would give him a roving commission and he would concentrate on the promotion of the game in countries like China and the US.
The ICC executive board appointed Bindra to the new post Monday after its meeting to decide on the world cricket body’s new chief executive.
Bindra, who is the head of the Punjab Cricket Association, was seen as a strong contender for the post but South Africa’s Imtiaz Patel was eventually selected from a final list of six people.
The tenure of the current chief executive, Australian lawyer Malcolm Speed, ends in June this year.
According to Morgan, Bindra will also have an important role in improving relations between member boards of the ICC.
“It became very clear to me that Bindra can play a very useful role for the ICC… and the realisation that the image of the ICC could be improved and so could relations between members,” he said.
Bindra, in his consultancy position, will report to the ICC president.
According to Morgan, Bindra may be especially called upon to help in the promotion of the game.
“The WICB (West Indies Cricket Board) has been mandated to promote the game in the Americas. Bindra can help in the promotion of the game in the US,” he said.
Asked if Bindra would operate out of Dubai, the permanent headquarters of the ICC, the ICC president-elect said: “He will have a roving commission. But once our new offices are opened (in Dubai), there will be ample scope for him to operate from here.”