New Mumbai Cricket Association president Naik dedicates his victory to secretaries of local clubs and gymkhanas; beats Sanjay Naik by 107 votes
Ajinkya Naik (second from right) celebrates his victory at Wankhede yesterday. Pic/Atul Kamble
For years now, the willow game has returned to the mind space of Mumbai cricket lovers in July, what with the Kanga League generally being scheduled to begin this month in many of the years gone by.
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It’s a tournament that kicks off the Mumbai cricket season and club torchbearers are at their busiest at this time of the year.
Hence, it seemed apt that the Mumbai Cricket Association’s (MCA) newly elected president Ajinkya Naik dedicated his 107-vote win over current vice-president Sanjay Naik to all the maidan club and gymkhana secretaries on Tuesday.
Sanjay gets 114 votes
Ajinkya, 37, who was MCA secretary in the late president Amol Kale’s regime (Kale died of a cardiac arrest in America on June 10) secured 221 votes out of the 335 who turned up for the election at Wankhede Stadium. Sanjay, who was backed by BJP leader and BCCI treasurer Ashish Shelar group, got 114 votes.
“This is a victory for maidan cricket, maidan club secretaries, schools and college gymkhana secretaries and former cricketers. I am only their representative. Amolji showed us purpose and motivation. I along with the Apex Council will try and carry his legacy forward,” Ajinkya said after his win.
One-sided victory expected
When mid-day asked Ajinkya if he had expected such a one-sided victory, he said: “It was expected, but I was keeping quiet till the result was official. A lot of unseen powers in the game were backing me. But definitely, our mentor has been Sharad Pawar sir. He has been backing me.”
As MCA president now, Ajinkya wants to help Mumbai cricketers get proper jobs. “We started the [MCA] Knowledge Centre last month. Now I plan to present employment opportunities to young cricketers. We will plan a career fair, wherein we will invite government organisations and corporates while we as the MCA Apex Council will request HR departments to offer permanent jobs to our players. Most cricketers are employed on a contractual basis, so our priority is to secure their living,” remarked Ajinkya.
Also Read: Cricketers make their presence felt at MCA elections
Meanwhile, Shelar in a statement congratulated Ajinkya. “This was a friendly contest in which Ajinkya emerged victorious. Congratulations to him. From hereon, we will all work towards the betterment of the association. He [Ajinkya] will have my backing. Our focus will be on developing Mumbai players and providing them the best of facilities. Our candidate Sanjay fought with the right sporting spirit. I will urge him to work with everyone for our family [the cricket community],” said Shelar.
While Sanjay will remain the vice-president, the MCA will conduct another election in the next 45 days to elect a new secretary.
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