Senior journalist Abhilash Khandekar appointed president of Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association

After Delhi, it’s Madhya Pradesh’s turn to have a journalist as the president on board of its cricket association.

Senior journalist and political commentator, Abhilash Khandekar has been elected unopposed as the president of Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA). This makes him the second scribe in the country after Rajat Sharma to have been elected for the coveted post. Sharma, the chairman and editor-in-chief of India TV was elected of Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) last year.

The election for MPCA office bearers was held on 2 October. Sanjeev Rao has been elected secretary and Pawan Jain as treasurer. Rao defeated Amitabh Vijayvargiya, who’s believed to be close to BJP national general secretary, Kailash Vijayvargiya in a close contest by 17 votes (117-100). Vijayvargiya had quit his government job to contest for the post of MPCA secretary.

Senior Congress leader and former Lok Sabha member from Guna, Jyotiraditya Scindia strongly backed Khandekar’s candidature for the top job in the state’s cricket body.

The other members elected in the committee are Prashant Dwivedi, Murtuza Ali, Yogesh Golwalkar, Devashish Nilosey and Sunil Lahore.

Sports administration is not new to Khandekar, as he had served in various capacities in basketball and Kho-Kho associations. Began his career as a sports reporter in Free Press, he has served both national and regional media in English, Hindi and Marathi like Hindustan Times, DNA, Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, etc.

“Today after getting elected for this post, it reminds me of 1992 World Cup, when I had met the cricket legend and the greatest batsman of all times, Sir Don Bradman at his Adelaide home and did a short interview. It was the greatest moment for me as a sports journalist those days,” Khandekar, who has authored books on politics and environment told Firstpost.