MCA elections: Ajinkya Naik expected to be elected unopposed as president of Mumbai Cricket Association | Cricket News
MUMBAI: Ajinkya Naik is set to continue his innings as president of the Mumbai Cricket Association. Naik will be elected unopposed to the Mumbai Cricket Association’s top post, with all other candidates in the running withdrawing on Monday.The MCA elections on November 12 will now involve polls for all other posts. Eight candidates, including former Indian women’s team captain Diana Edulji, had filed their nomination papers for the post in the MCA elections. However, on Monday, the deadline for withdrawal of applications, the other seven candidates withdrew their candidacy.“My heart lies with Maidan Cricket – I will work for every player, every club and for the bright future of Mumbai cricket. My heart lies with Maidan Cricket – I will work for every player, every club and for the bright future of Mumbai cricket,” Ajinkya Naik told TOI on Monday. “I have withdrawn my candidature for the sake of continuity,” Edulji said.Naik served as MCA president from July 2024, when he defeated Sanjay Naik to win the presidential election after the untimely death of former MCA president Amol Kale, and as MCA secretary from 2022 to 2024. He was a member of the MCA supreme council from 2019 to 2022. During his tenure as MCA president, the association unveiled the Sharad Pawar Cricket Museum and constructed life-size statues of cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar and Sharad Pawar, former president of the ICC, BCCI and MCA. A few months ago, he also announced that the MCA would build a life-size statue of former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar at the Wankhede Stadium. A popular young administrator with a proven track record, Naik also introduced several reforms and measures to improve the image of the MCA.Besides Edulji, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLC, Legislative Council chief whip and Mahayuti coordinator Shri Prasad Lad, MCA Apex Council members Jitendra Awhad (NCP-SP MLA), Milind Narvekar (former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s AP and Shiv Sena party secretary) and Suraj Samat, T20 Mumbai board chairman Vihang Sarnaik and the former joint secretary of the MCA. Shahalam Shaikh has all withdrawn his candidacy for the presidential post.The MCA vice-presidential election will see a contest between Awhad and Naveen Shetty, who is contesting as an independent candidate. The secretary election will pit Shahalam Shaikh against former MCA secretary Unmesh Khanvilkar.Meanwhile, Rajdip Gupta, who heads the National Cricket Club (NCC), one of the oldest cricket clubs located in Cross Maidan, has been elected as the new president of MCA’s Mumbai T20 League. Gupta, an established self-made entrepreneur of Route Mobile Limited, also owns two cricket franchises: Chennai Singams in the Indian Street Premier League (ISPL) cricket tennis tournament and North Mumbai Panthers in the Mumbai T20 league.
