The International Cricket Council (ICC) has asked its chief executive Manu Sawhney to go on leave after UK-based accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in an internal review accused him of authoritarian style of functioning.

There was no communication from the ICC but sources told The Telegraph that there have been various allegations against Sawhney, including arrogance and high-handedness in his dealings with its employees. It was learnt that the review has been critical of the functioning of the ICC board as well.

The board will now need a simple majority to throw him out of office though he might be given the option to quit on his own.

The move is being seen as a huge victory for the Big Three — BCCI, Cricket Australia and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) — who had strongly opposed Sawhney’s lobbying for an ICC event every year in the next Future Tours Programme cycle at the expense of bilateral cricket.

Sawhney, who took over from Dave Richardson in 2019, has often been accused of overstepping his brief by dictating the upcoming media rights cycle and lobbying for Imran Khwaja during the chairman’s election.

The review took place in February and was based on a number of one-to-one discussions across the organisation and the ICC board with an aim to get a clear picture of the culture of working within the ICC.