Dr Vijay Patil, Journalist Abhilash Kandekar elected president of MCA and MPCA

Although he had political backing, Khandekar and most of his fellow newly elected office bearers of the MPCA were elected unopposed during its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday. As per the association’s website, Ramnik Singh Saluja was elected vice-president and Siddhyani Patni was elected joint secretary as well. The five members of the cricket committee — comprising former first-class players Ali Murtaza, Debvasish Nilosey, Sunil Lahorey, Yogesh Golwalkar, and Prashant Dwivedi — and the nine managing committee members were all elected unopposed. 

The only notable positions for which elections were held was for the secretary and treasurer. Sanjeev Rao of the Scindia panel defeated Amitabh Vijayvargiya by 17 votes for the secretary’s post, while Pawan Jain beat Prem Patel for the treasurer’s chair. 

Meanwhile, in Mumbai, Amol Kale and Sanjay Naik — both newcomers to cricket administration — have been elected unopposed as vice-president and secretary, after their opponents withdrew from the contest on Thursday. 

The elections to decide the posts for joint secretary, treasurer, and the nine councillor posts will be held on Friday. Sangam Lad and Shaikh Shahalam are the candidates for joint secretary and it will be between Jagdish Achrekar and Mayank Khandwala for treasurer, while 27 candidates will contest the councillor posts.

The MCA has also announced a 17-member Apex Council, which includes a male and female cricketer nominated by the Indian Cricketers Association (ICA) and a representative from the AG’s office.