Bangalore: Kumble panel sweeps KSCA poll

DHNS

• Former spinner elected president, Jawagal Srinath to be new secretary

Bangalore, 22 November 2010: The cheers of present and former Karnataka cricketers reached a crescendo as the trends in the elections to the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) began to arrive on Sunday night which eventually translated into a landslide victory for the team led by Anil Kumble.

 

In one of the most anticipated battles, which attracted nation-wide attention, to wrest the power of the KSCA, Kumble’s group won 21 of the total 24 seats they contested for in the historic elections.

 

The pre-poll analysis that it was going to be one of the most keenly-contested elections came unstuck as Kumble and his team delivered a knockout punch to the group led by Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, whose camp managed to win just three seats, Tumkur Occasionals, Jawahar Sports Club and Bangalore Cricketers bagging the Institutional Member seats in the 24-strong Managing Committee.

 

“It’s a fantastic feeling,” Kumble gushed amidst the cacophony of his ecstatic supporters. “It’s been a great feeling to be part of this election process and it feels even greater that we came unscathed,” he added.

 

For the record, Kumble garnered 559 of the total 1080 votes as against Wadiyar’s 516, emerging a victor by 43 votes to unseat the incumbent president. Wadiyar has pulled off a major upset last time when he defeated another legendary cricketer GR Viswanath, but this time Kumble proved to be too a big hurdle to cross. It was, however, a walk in the park for secretary-aspirant Javagal Srinath, who got a whopping 644 votes to beat his rival and former Karnataka skipper AV Jayaprakash by a massive 245 votes.

 

It was a clear mandate for the cricketers from the voters, whom both Kumble and Srinath termed very smart. “It has been a terrific experience for all of us,” noted Srinath. The other key candidates to win are Roger Binny, Venkatesh Prasad, Sadanand Maiya (all vice-presidents), Tallam Venkatesh (treasurer), Vijay Bharadwaj and Sujith Somasundar (MC members).