Edinburgh, July 8 (IANS) In a major shake-up, long-serving International Cricket Council (ICC) Deputy Chairman Imran Khwaja suffered a shock defeat in the Associate Member Directors’ elections held on the sidelines of the global body’s Annual Conference here on Wednesday.

France’s Gurumurthy Palani topped the polling charts with 35 votes, while UAE’s Mubashir Usmani and Namibia’s Rudie van Vuuren secured 26 votes each to claim the three available spots on the all-powerful 17-member ICC Board for a two-year term.

Khwaja, a veteran administrator from Singapore who has been a dominant voice for the associate nations at the ICC, finished a close fourth with 23 votes. The fifth candidate in the fray, Malaysia’s Mahinda Vallipuram, managed only 19 votes. While Palani and Van Vuuren enter the apex board for the first time at the expense of Khwaja and Vallipuram, Usmani successfully retained his position.

Khwaja, a lawyer by profession, had previously served as the interim ICC Chairman in 2020 after Shashank Manohar vacated the post, and functioned as Deputy Chair under multiple chiefs, including N Srinivasan, Greg Barclay, and Jay Shah.

He was also hailed as a saviour after successfully anchoring crucial back-door negotiations between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to have the high-stakes Men’s T20 World Cup clash take place smoothly in Colombo.

Out of the 45 Associate Members eligible to vote in the biennial election, only 43 could vote as USA Cricket and Cricket Canada remain under suspension. With each eligible member allowed three votes, a total of 129 votes were polled.

Khwaja’s exit means the ICC will now have to appoint a new Deputy Chairman. One of the three newly elected Associate Directors is expected to be chosen for the role before the four-day conclave concludes on July 11.

The high-profile conclave was preceded by the ICC delegates assembling at Lord’s to witness Australia clinch their record-extending seventh global crown in the final of the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup.

–IANS

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