Mumbai power games set around Wankhede v DY Patil

Sharad Pawar has said he was contesting the election for the post of president of the Mumbai Cricket Association to preserve the pre-eminence of the Wankhede Stadium as Mumbai's centre to host IPL and international cricket.

Pawar, who is vying for this seventh term as MCA president, said he would have withdrawn from the race had his opponent from the Cricket First group Vijay Patil given an undertaking not to demand international and IPL matches to be played at the DY Patil Sports Academy of which Patil is the president.

"Had he given an undertaking I probably would have withdrawn from the fray," Pawar was quoted as saying by The Indian Express ahead of a meeting of the ruling Bal Mahaddalkar group on Saturday.

"They should have made their position clear about hosting games in DY Patil Stadium. We have no objection to give practice matches, Ranji Trophy matches and other games to [DY Patil]. But we can't encourage talks about giving IPL matches from which the MCA gets a few lakh rupees per match," Pawar said.

Pawar's first stint as MCA president lasted eight years between 2001-08 and then he was re-elected in 2013, the last time the elections were held. According to Pawar, the MCA stood to "suffer a loss of R 2 lakh per match," if IPL games were played at DY Patil stadium. But the former BCCI and ICC president said the MCA had no issues granting Ranji Trophy and practice matches to other venues within Mumbai.

However Patil strongly contested Pawar's argument stating that DY Patil stadium had hosted just one international match thus far. "To conduct international matches at the DY Patil Stadium is not the only motive for which I am contesting. I had started stadium work in 1990 when Sharad Pawar was not even in the MCA. The allegations are untrue. I am contesting for the betterment of cricket, not only for having some matches at DY Patil Stadium. Since 2004, when the stadium was constructed, we have been allotted only one Ranji Trophy match," Patil told Mid Day in response to Pawar's claims.

Patil, an incumbent vice-president and chief of Cricket First, the opposition group in MCA, submitted his nomination for the president's post against Pawar for the elections to be held on June 17. Patil's group has been supported by Shiv Sena, the political party that is a part of the state government. Incidentally Patil entered the MCA as the first independent to get elected as a vice-president, and got re-elected two years in the same position.

Patil said his decision to contest the elections was driven with a desire to create a "new vision" for the organisation. "I don't think it is a fight between two individuals," Patil had said in an interview to DNA last week.

"I don't think I surprised anyone. In our early meetings, we clearly said that we will be contesting with 17 candidates. This time, the mandate was clear and we wanted to contest for all posts. I just feel that there has been an overwhelming sense that change was needed in the organisation."