In July this year, after the ICC annual general meeting, Barclay declared he was ready to contest for a second two-year term. Barclay is believed to be bullish about his prospects, especially as election rules have been tweaked with the winner to be decided on the basis of a simple majority. In 2020 the winning candidate needed a two-third majority from the 16-strong ballot. The 16 votes are from the ICC board of 12 Full Members, one independent director (Indra Nooyi) and three Associate directors which includes Khwaja.

Khwaja had received six votes in the first round two years ago, but Cricket South Africa’s vote in the second round tipped the contest in Barclay’s direction. Once beaten, twice shy, Khwaja, one of the most experienced directors on the board, weighed his options and eventually decided not to contest this time, despite having got the mandatory one vote to get nominated.

While it could not be confirmed on October 20, the nomination deadline day, Mukuhlani, too, had been proposed by one of the ICC directors. And now he has the second vote, enough to support a nomination. While he is keen to fight the elections, Mukuhlani will likely take a final call in the next week once he senses the kind of support he could expect.

Mukuhlani is part of the ICC’s Audit Committee and chair of the Membership Committee. He is also part of the global body’s Olympics working group, which is tasked with pushing for cricket’s entry in the Summer Games. Popularly known as ‘Doc’ in ICC circles, Mukuhlani believes he has the experience to take over the leadership and become a voice for smaller members and Associates. He is hedging his chances mainly on getting support from a majority of Asian countries except for the BCCI. At the moment, it is believed that the BCCI vote is leaning towards Barclay, but options remain open till election date. The election is planned to take place during the ICC meetings, scheduled on November 12-13 in Melbourne.

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