Will Vengsarkar replace Pawar as MCA chief?

Will Dilip Vengsarkar be the new Mumbai Cricket Association chief?

Elections are always messy, but I have not experienced the kind of mud-slinging that is taking place in the build-up to next month's MCA elections.

If one goes by maidan musings, voters want something tangible in the running of Mumbai cricket and cite the example of Karnataka State Cricket Association where the cricketers group led by Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Javagal Srinath trounced the Maharaja of Mysore group.


Dilip Vengsarkar

Grapevine has it that there will be an increase in the number of candidates. Perhaps, there will be three groups. It is learnt that despite being at the helm of cricket's apex body ufffdu00a0 the International Cricket Council ufffd Sharad Pawar is likely to contest against former India captain Vengsarkar for the post of president while politicians Narayan Rane and Vilasrao Deshmukh (currently vice-president of the MCA) are inspecting ground realities.

Point of view
Mumbai cricket traditionalists feel Vengsarkar has acquired enough cricket management experience to be the next president of the MCA. However, Mumbai losing to Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Jharkhand and Haryana in various BCCI tournaments has shaken them.

So what will the list of candidates for next month's MCA polls look like? There could be a mixture of some experienced international cricketers and administrators.

Reacting to this information, a couple of cricketers who have contributed immensely to Mumbai and Indian cricket,u00a0 said: "The best solution would be to have Pawar as mca patron so that we acknowledge his invaluable contribution and let the younger man, Vengsarkar be president.u00a0 In this scenario, Pawar doesn't have to endure the danger of losing an election and Vengsarkar gets an opportunity to bring in and implement fresh ideas as head of the association."

Glory days, please
When some former players were asked why shouldn't Pawar continue considering his good work ever since he took over from Manohar Joshi in 2001, they said they wanted to see the return of Mumbai's glory and there is no better person than Vengsarkar to spearhead the task.

By glory days they mean a significant improvement in club cricket and a better show at BCCI-organised tournaments.u00a0 One die-hard follower came up with what seemed a logical view: "When we have two experienced persons (Pawar and Vengsarkar), why should we lose one in an election?"