Former India women’s captain Diana Edulji, incumbent Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president Ajinkya Naik, and three political leaders are among the eight candidates who have filed their nomination papers for the post of MCA president ahead of the elections scheduled for November 12.
Monday — the final day of the weeklong nomination window — witnessed frenetic activity at the MCA office in the Wankhede Stadium premises, with as many as 105 applications submitted to election officer J.S. Saharia.
Edulji, the veteran cricketer-turned-administrator, is the only prominent cricketing figure in the fray. She has filed her nomination for both the president and vice-president posts. Among the others to file nominations are Prasad Lad, MLC from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP); Milind Narvekar, MLC from the Shiv Sena (UBT) and a close aide of former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray; and Jitendra Awhad, MLA from the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar Group).
Both Narvekar and Awhad are members of the outgoing MCA Apex Council. Their colleague Suraj Samat, who narrowly lost the secretary’s election to Abhay Hadap last year, has also entered the contest, along with Vihang Sarnaik, the Mumbai T20 League chairman and son of Maharashtra’s transport minister Pratak Sarnaik.
Interestingly, outgoing president Naik has filed his papers despite having completed six consecutive years in the MCA Apex Council, which makes him subject to a mandatory cooling-off period under the Supreme Court-directed Lodha Committee reforms applicable to all state cricket associations. The eighth applicant is Shahalm Shaikh, former MCA joint secretary.
It remains to be seen whether Naik’s application will be accepted by the election officer. The multiple nominations received for various positions suggest a lack of consensus among MCA’s key power blocs — including the political heavyweights who traditionally exert influence behind the scenes.
The scrutiny of nominations will take place on Tuesday, while November 7 (Friday) is the last date for withdrawal of applications.
Published – November 03, 2025 10:36 pm IST