ICC Chooses Indra Nooyi as its First Independent Female Director

In a path-breaking effort, International Cricket Council selected PepsiCo India CEO Indra Nooyi as its first independent female director. World cricket’s governing body declared that in a board meeting on Friday, that it unanimously decided to bring in Nooyi as an independent director.

ICC had called for nominations and had set up a committee to choose its independent female director. And ICC shortlisted Nooyi out of more than 100 applicants and it considered all. She joins the ICC board in June.

Earlier in June last year, ICC had made significant constitutional changes to improving the global governance of the sport. One of such changes was the addition of the position of independent female director to bring in diversity in the council.

The post has full voting rights and is a two-year long term. And ICC has allowed an independent director to get two re-elections making their term last for as long as six years.

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The requirements for this post according to ICC are that the candidate has to have “genuine passion for and interest in the sport of cricket combined with recent and relevant experience at a senior level in a commercial, voluntary or public environment.”

“She must be independent of the ICC and during the term of her appointment must not hold any office or perform any executive or operational duties for any ICC Member or state, association or member of any Member,” the release had said.

“I played it as a teenager and in college. To this day, I cherish the lessons the game taught me about teamwork, integrity, respect, and healthy competition."

“We are delighted to welcome Indra to the ICC,” ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar said. “Adding another independent director – particularly a female – is such an important step forward in improving our governance. To have someone of Indra’s calibre is fantastic news for the global game.”

He added, “We undertook a global search looking for the right candidate who would complement the existing skills and experience already on our Board. A cricket enthusiast with experience in the commercial sector and independent of the ICC. Any member or state or associated organisation were the primary criteria. In Indra, we have found an exceptional new colleague and we look forward to working with her in the future.”

Nooyi also responded to this development saying, “I love the game of cricket.”

“I played it as a teenager and in college. To this day, I cherish the lessons the game taught me about teamwork, integrity, respect, and healthy competition. I am thrilled to join the ICC as the first person that ICC has appointed to this role. And I look forward to working with my colleagues on the board. ICC’s incredible partners, and cricketers around the world to grow our sport responsibly and give our fans a new reason to follow every ball and shot,” she said.

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