Sandeep Patil, the former India batsman, has decided to contest for the president’s post in the upcoming Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) election, which is scheduled to be held on September 28. On Thursday, Patil had denied that he would be contesting the election, before changing his mind a day later.
Sandeep Patil confirmed to The Indian Express that he had decided to run for MCA president on Friday morning after consulting his family and friends in the association. It was only a few days ago that Patil had decided to enroll his voting rights in the association as an international player.
“I will be contesting for the MCA president post. Last time I had to withdraw due to the conflict-of-interest clause. However, I decided this morning to contest after talking to my family and senior MCA friends,” Patil said.
The former chairman of the senior national selection committee had wanted to contest the previous election too, but due to his commentary assignment, he could have faced conflict-of-interest charges. So he had to withdraw at the last moment. Patil had done Marathi commentary for Star Sports during the Indian Premier League.
Patil has previously served as coach of India, Kenya and Oman, and was also the head of the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. This will be the first time he has decided to throw his hat in the ring of cricket administration. It is unclear whether Sandeep Patil will be facing any competition at the moment.
Meanwhile, the current MCA president Vijay Patil is eligible to contest for the post too but if he is elected, he will be in office for only two years as he has served as an MCA office-bearer earlier.
Bonus for Amol Muzumdar
In an Apex Council meeting of the MCA held on Thursday, it was decided to appoint Jageshwar Saharia, ex-state election commissioner, as the association’s election officer.
The Apex Council also decided to give a bonus of Rs 10 lakh to its senior team coach Amol Muzumdar, under whom Mumbai had reached the final of the Ranji Trophy in June.
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