Mumbai Cricket Association elections to be held on October 20

While the nominations can be filed from October 6 to 10, the final list of candidates will be announced on October 14, once the deadline for withdrawal of nomination lapses.

It remains to be seen if Sandeep Patil, who had withdrawn from the race three years ago, actually files his nomination papers from the Sharad Pawar Group | Photo Credit:  K. Bhagya Prakash

The rescheduled Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) election will be held on October 20, with the electoral officer J.S. Saharia announcing the election programme.

According to the programme, voting and counting of votes for each of the 14 elected members of the MCA apex council is scheduled in the Wankhede Stadium premises on October 20. While the nominations can be filed from October 6 to 10, the final list of candidates will be announced on October 14, once the deadline for withdrawal of nomination lapses.

Interestingly, the MCA election has been scheduled two days after the BCCI election in the same premises. With MCA having nominated former president Ashish Shelar, a political heavyweight of the Bharatiya Janata Party, as its representative for the BCCI annual general meeting, it will be interesting to see if Shelar throws his hat in the ring for the MCA top job.

Former India allrounder and head coach Sandeep Patil has made his intentions of contesting for the president’s post clear. It remains to be seen if Patil, who had withdrawn from the race three years ago, actually files his nomination papers from the Sharad Pawar Group, the erstwhile Bal Mahaddalkar Group.

Incumbent Vijay Patil is uncertain to contest, with vice-president Amol Kale and T20 league chairman Milind Narvekar also eyeing the president’s post. While Kale is a close aide of deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Narvekar’s proximity to former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is well-documented.

Secretary Sanjay Naik is set to run for another term, but is likely to be challenged by apex council member Ajinkya Naik from the Pawar group. The Pawar group, with veteran administrator Ratnakar Shetty as the coordinator, is also likely to field Navin Shetty for the vice-president’s post and Jagdish Achrekar, the present treasurer, in the same role.