MUMBAI, July 23: Ajinkya Naik pummelled his rival Sanjay Naik by a whopping 107 votes to become the new president of the Mumbai Cricket Association here on Tuesday.
Ajinkya, who was the incumbent secretary of the MCA, recorded a massive win by a margin of 221-114 to register a one-sided victory.
The 37-year-old Ajinkya, who was backed by veteran politician and the former president of the BCCI as well as the ICC, Sharad Pawar, is now the youngest president in the history of the MCA.
His opponent Sanjay,who is the incumbent vice president of the MCA, was backed by the Ashish Shelar group. BJP leader Shelar is also the treasurer of the BCCI.
The process of election which began on July 4 here was initiated after the untimely demise of Amol Kale in New York, where he had travelled with other MCA officials to watch the T20 World Cup match between India and Pakistan earlier last month.
“The victory is a testament to Amol Kale’s exemplary achievement. My efforts will be to replicate his commitment and dedication to improving the quality of Mumbai cricket and take his legacy forward,” Ajinkya said in a statement.
A total of 335 votes were cast here on Tuesday afternoon which also saw India’s chairman of selectors and former national and Mumbai cricketer Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Sanjay Manjrekar, Balvinder Singh Sandhu and Paras Mhambrey coming out to cast their respective votes.
The voters also comprised maidan club members, gymkhana clubs and college representatives.
Election officer JS Saharia said while announcing the result, “The votes were counted in 14 rounds. None of the candidates’ representatives objected to any ballot paper and all the votes were deemed valid.
“At the end of the counting, Sanjay Naik earned 114 votes while Ajinkya Naik got 221 valid votes. At the end of the conclusion of voting, none of the candidates sought recount, so the AGM has been reconvened and Ajinkya Naik is declared elected as the MCA president.”
Speaking to the media shortly after his win, Ajinkya said, “This is the victory of Maidan cricket. It’s a triumph of all the Maidan club secretaries, schools and college gymkhana secretaries and the former cricketers. I am only their representative.”
“I have been serving MCA since 2015 in various capacities and it is a pyramid-like journey, thanks to maidan clubs and their secretaries.”
On registering a one-sided win Ajinkya said,”It was expected but I was keeping quiet till the result was official. It was cricket and a lot of unseen powers in the game that were backing me. But definitely our mentor has been Sharad Pawar sir. He has been backing me.”
Mumbai BJP heavyweight Shelar, also current BCCI treasurer said that all parties will work together for betterment of cricket.
“This was a friendly contest in which Ajinkya Naik emerged victorious. From hereon we will all work towards betterment of the association. He (Ajinkya) will have my backing. Our focus will be on developing Mumbai players and provide them with the best of facilities.
“Our candidate Sanjay Naik fought with the right sporting spirit. I will urge him to work with everyone for our family (the cricket community).” (PTI)
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