Known as TB Shah, the octogenarian was battling with liver cancer and succumbed to the illness at Norvic Hospital at 11.30 pm on Sunday, informed the cricket governing body. He was admitted to the hospital the same day.

His final rites will be performed on Tuesday as the Shah family has been awaiting the arrival of his daughter from London. CAN will pay him final tribute draping Shah’s body with its flag.  Shah was elected the first vice-president at CAN’s general election in Chitwan three years back. He took over the helm of the cricket governing body after the Commission for Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed graft charges against 10 CAN officials in June last year.

However, he had remained passive off late due to his illness. “He gave his time to the cricket association. He was quite rigid in discipline and his departure with the cricket team for international tournaments was always a relief to us,” said former CAN President Binay Raj Pandey.

Shah had been one of the longest serving cricket officials who led the CAN for almost four decades along with former presidents Jaya Kumar Nath Shah and Pandey. He was also the president of the Parsa District Cricket Association.

In 2009, the International Cricket Council had honoured Shah and four others with Centenary Award. A former player himself, Shah played for the Young Man Cricket Club (YMCC) when the sport began to flourish in the country. YMCC was later transformed into CAN.

Shah was the team manager when Nepal first participated in the 1996 ACC Trophy that was held in Malaysia. He also accompanied as team manager in the 2001 ACC Trophy (Canada), 2006 ICC U-19 World Cup (Malaysia) and 2013 World Cricket League Division 3 (Bermuda). He was the tournament director when Nepal hosted the 2005 ACC U-19 Cup and 2011 ACC Twenty20 Cup.