Mumbai Cricket Association elections: Ajinkya Naik elected unopposed as President
The Ashish Shelar-Sharad Pawar Group (ASSPG) — formed on the eve of the election after hectic rounds of discussions —dominated the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) election here on Wednesday.
While Ajinkya Naik continued his stint as president after being elected unopposed, Pawar’s close aide and a prominent leader of opposition, Jitendra Awhad, was elected as vice-president. Awhad defeated Navin Shetty, who contested as an independent by 46 votes.
Dr. Unmesh Khanvilkar returned in style to the office-bearers’ fold after six years as he defeated Shahalam Shaikh, who had challenged Naik’s candidacy in court, by 98 votes. “I would sincerely like to thank all the voters for showing faith in me after a long hiatus. I, along with the mentors, leaders, office-bearers and maidan representatives, will do my best to keep Mumbai cricket a force to reckon with.”
During the 48 hours preceding the election, the Shelar and Pawar factions first announced separate lists before presenting a united front as ASSPG on Sunday night. Khanvilkar was a late addition to the list, along with veteran curator Nadim Memon (elected as councillor) on the morning of the election.
Of the 375 voters, 362 cast their votes, including former India captains Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Diana Edulji. The other prominent international cricketers who voted included Sanjay Manjrekar, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Nilesh Kulkarni, Paras Mhambrey and Jatin Paranjape.
Office Bearers:
President: Ajinkya Naik (Unopposed)
Vice-president: Jitendra Awhad (201 votes) def Navin Shetty (155)
Secretary: Unmesh Khanvilkar (227) def Shahalam Shaikh (129)
Joint secretary: Nilesh Bhosle (228) def Gaurav Payyade (128)
Treasurer: Arman Mallick 234 def Surendra Shewale (119)
Councillors (9 posts): Elected candidates – Sandeep Vichare (247), Suraj Samat (246), Vighnesh Kadam (242), Milind Narvekar (241), Bhushan Patil (208), Nadim Memon (198), Vikas Repale (195), Pramod Yadav (186), Neil Savant (178).
Governing Council chairman: Rajdip Gupta (Unopposed)
Governing Council member: Bharat Kini (184) def Kishore Jain (132).
Published on Nov 12, 2025
