Tavengwa Mukuhlani, Chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket, has been appointed ICC Deputy Chairperson. He will serve until November 2027. He is the first Zimbabwean to hold this position in the ICC’s history.
“I am deeply honoured by the confidence placed in me by my fellow ICC Board Directors and grateful for the opportunity to serve as Deputy Chair of the ICC.”
Tavengwa Mukuhlani, ICC announcement, September 17, 2026
Mukuhlani replaces Imran Khwaja of Singapore, who held the role since 2017. Khwaja did not step down voluntarily. In ICC Board elections, Associate Members voted him out as a director. He finished fourth among five candidates, receiving only 23 of 43 eligible votes. Under the ICC constitution, only a sitting director can serve as Deputy Chair. Once Khwaja lost his seat, the position opened.
The ICC Board then elected Mukuhlani to fill it.
Mukuhlani is a pharmacist by training. He earned the nickname “Doc” during his university days, and it stuck through decades of cricket administration. He entered the governance side through the Mashonaland Cricket Association, where he served as chairman. By 2004, he was vice-chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket. In August 2015, he took over as chairman.
Since then, he has built a presence across ICC committees. He sits on the Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee and the Nominations Committee. He chairs the HR and Remuneration Committee. He joined the ICC’s Olympic Working Group in 2021, the task force that helped secure cricket’s return to the Games from 2028 onwards. He also chairs the ICC committee overseeing Cricket Kenya’s governance reforms. Earlier this year, he was appointed chairman of the Africa Cricket Association.
That CV alone would make the appointment logical. But it is the period between 2019 and now that defines Mukuhlani’s standing in global cricket governance.
In July 2019, the ICC suspended Zimbabwe Cricket over government interference. The Sports and Recreation Commission had removed the ZC board and installed an interim committee. International cricket in Zimbabwe stopped. Players were barred from ICC events. Funding was frozen.
Mukuhlani navigated the reinstatement. By October 2019, three months after the suspension, Zimbabwe Cricket was back. He was unanimously re-elected as chairman during that same period. In the years that followed, he cleared significant debts that had weighed on the organization. He integrated the Zimbabwe women’s national team into the ICC Future Tours Programme, giving them a structured international calendar for the first time.
That trajectory, from suspension to the ICC’s second-highest office in seven years, is the story within this appointment.
“His experience in cricket administration, understanding of the global game and commitment to its development will be invaluable to the ICC Board.”
Jay Shah, ICC Chairman, September 17, 2026
The timing is not a coincidence. Zimbabwe is co-hosting the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027 alongside South Africa and Namibia. It will be the first World Cup staged in Africa in 24 years. Having the Deputy Chair from a co-hosting nation adds weight to the tournament’s organizational credibility. Mukuhlani’s presence on the Olympic Working Group matters equally. Cricket returns to the Olympics at Los Angeles 2028, and the decisions shaping that inclusion are being made now.
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Shah called the election “a significant milestone for Zimbabwe.” For a country whose cricket board was suspended five years ago, the distance covered is considerable.
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