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MCA elections: What made Sharad Pawar contest after a decade?

By FnF Correspondent | PUBLISHED: 16, Jun 2015, 16:57 pm IST | UPDATED: 16, Jun 2015, 16:57 pm IST

MCA elections: What made Sharad Pawar contest after a decade? New Delhi: He has not contested the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) elections for a decade and a half, but Sharad Pawar, former BCCI and ICC president, will be in contention for the president's post in the biennial elections of his home turf on Wednesday.

Pawar decided to contest the polls after Shiv Sena-backed Vijay Patil demanded international and IPL games to be played at the D Y Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai of which Patil is the president.

"Had he given such an undertaking I probably would have withdrawn from the fray," said Pawar.

Pawar also said that granting of international matches for a particular venue needs the green signal from the ICC.

"There are only two venues in Mumbai which have been approved by the ICC - Wankhede Stadium of MCA and Cricket Club of India's Brabourne stadium.

"For hosting IPL mathes at the Wankhede Stadiunm MCA gets paid in lakhs which is beneficial to the association," Pawar explained.

He was reacting to Patil's previous remarks, where he asked Pawar to give his blessing to his group 'Cricket First' and withdraw from contesting for the President's post.

Pawar last contested an MCA election in 2001 against Ajit Wadekar.

Another interesting electoral battle is the fight for the vice-president’s post between two former cricketers — Dilip Vengsarkar, who is with the Pawar-Mahaddlakar group, and Abey Kuruvilla, who is part of the Patil group.

Meanwhile, Republican Party of India (RPI) chief Ramdas Athvale has withdrawn his nomination for vice-president’s post.
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