Unmesh Khanvilkar Elected Mumbai Cricket Association Secretary; Jitendra Awhad Wins Vice-President Post

Unmesh Khanvilkar was on Wednesday elected secretary of the Mumbai Cricket Association while former housing minister of Maharashtra, opposition leader and NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad won the post of vice-president.

As many as 362 votes out of 375 were cast at the MCA Lounge inside the Wankhede Stadium with the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sanjay Manjrekar, former India women's captain Diana Edulji, chairman of the selection committee Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Nilesh Kulkarni and Jatin Paranjape, among others, coming for the exercise.

Ajinkya Naik was also officially declared elected unopposed as the MCA president with the remaining seven candidates pulling out of the race on the final day of the withdrawal of nominations on November 10.

"With the powerful support of Hon’ble Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ji and Sharad Pawar ji, this success became possible. Heartfelt thanks to Ashish Shelar ji for his continued guidance and encouragement," Naik said in a statement.

Khanvilkar, who has served as the MCA joint secretary in the past, defeated Shahalam Shaikh by a margin of 227-129 votes.

Shaikh had challenged Naik’s eligibility in court.

"I would 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," Khanvilkar said after the win.

The outcome of the MCA elections for 2025-2028 came a day after the announcement of the Sharad Pawar-Ashish Shelar Group, which won 12 out of the 16 seats.

Awhad, a close aide of Pawar, defeated Navin Shetty for the post of vice-president by 201-155 votes while Nilesh Bhosle registered a 228-128 victory for the post of joint secretary.

Arman Mallick retained his post as the treasurer with a 234-119 victory against Surendra Shewale.

The nine members elected as apex councillors are: Sandeep Vichare, Suraj Samat, Vighnesh Kadam, Milind Narvekar, Bhushan Patil, veteran curator Nadim Memon, Vikas Repale, Pramod Yadav and Neil Savant.