Ajinkya Naik elected as the youngest MCA president so far, defeats Sanjay Naik
Ajinkya Naik has been elected the new Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president. At just 37, he's the youngest MCA president. Ajinkya defeated vice-president Sanjay Naik by 107 votes to be elected the MCA president.
The election was necessitated due to Amol Kale’s death on June 10 thus year. Kale (47), who was serving as the MCA president, died after suffering a cardiac in New York. Kale, along with then MCA secretary Ajinkya and apex council member Suraj Samat, had watched Team India's thrilling 2024 T20 World Cup match against Pakistan on June 9 at the Nassau Cricket Stadium in New York.
As per Sportstar, election officer J.S. Saharia announced that 335 votes went in Ajinkya's favor, while Sanjay got only 114 votes. The report added that the election for the secretary’s post, which has become vacant since Ajinkya has been elected president, will be held in 45 days.
“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,” Ajinkya was quoted as saying by Sportstar.
“I have been serving MCA since 2015 in various capacities and its a pyramid-like journey, thanks to maidan clubs and their secretaries,” he added.
Following the result of the election, the X handle of the Mumbai Cricket Association put up a post confirming Ajinkya's win and congratulating him for the comprehensive victory.
About former MCA President Amol Kale
Kale was elected as the MCA president after he defeated 1983 World Cup-winner Sandeep Patil in a close election battle in 2022. During this tenure, the Mumbai Cricket Association doubled Mumbai’s senior men’s match fees. The change will be implemented from the upcoming season.
Hailing from Nagpur, Kale was well-respected by administrators and Mumbai cricketers as well. Apart from managing affairs of the Mumbai Cricket Association, he was also a co-promoter of the Indian Street Premier League, a tennis-ball franchise tournament that was launched earlier this year.