MUMBAI (TIP): India‘s N. Srinivasan was confirmed as chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Melbourne on Thursday, giving the 69-year-old industrialist the most powerful role in the governing body’s restructured organisation. Srinivasan, who emerged as the leading candidate to become ICC chairman in February, will assume office almost immediately after the governing body rubber-stamped constitutional changes at its annual conference being held this week in Australia.

“It is an honour to be confirmed as the Chairman of the International Cricket Council,” Srinivasan said in a statement after the 52-member full council approved amendments which, to many observers, give India, England and Australia virtual control of the sport. Often described as the most powerful man in cricket, Srinivasan became the Board Of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI) president in 2011 but was ordered to step aside in March to ensure a fair investigation into an illegal betting scandal during last year’s Indian Premier League involving his son-in-law.

The Chennai-native was also accused of having a conflict of interest due to his India Cements company owning a franchise in the lucrative Twenty20 league. Those controversies have led to some criticism of his appointment with one official of a now unrecognised unit within the Indian cricket board urging the country’s Supreme Court to bar Srinivasan from taking over as ICC chief.