Sena backs Vengsarkar in MCA polls

The Shiv Sena has supported cricketer Dilip Vengsarkars panel in elections to the Mumbai Cricket Association.

The Shiv Sena has supported cricketer Dilip Vengsarkars panel in elections to the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).

Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray made a pitch for Vengsarkar in a statement on Friday,saying the MCA polls had seen an increasing dominance of politicians over the past few years while cricketers were being kept away. When did a cricket bat fall into the hands of politicians like Sharad Pawar (and),Vilasrao Deshmukh? questioned Thackeray,adding,Why are these politicians who warn that politics should not be mixed with sports when the Shiv Sena raises the issue of Pakistani cricket players (playing on Indian soil) themselves bringing politics into the cricket field?

He added,This politics has made a mess of cricket. Money has attained more importance… The entire cricket (world) has been spoilt… This is an opportunity to ensure that politicians are taken out of the MCA pitch.

Ironically,former Lok Sabha speaker and senior Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi is a former MCA president. Politicians can love cricket as a game. The Sena chief (Bal Thackeray) is also a cricket aficionado,but there should be no politics on the cricket field; how long should the MCA chair be warmed by politicians? It is not proper to fight elections consecutively to get over the anomalies in your previous accounts. Drive out the politicians from the cricket field and save cricket, Uddhav said.

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