Roger Binny elected president of KSCA

There was no change in the script as Roger Binny was not only elected the president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) with an overwhelming number of votes, but also led a clean sweep from his panel here at its polls on Thursday.

While Binny got 943 votes, his rival Captain MM Harish, representing Swatch Cricket, managed just 111. J Abhiram polled 885 votes to be elected the Vice-President ahead of his opponents Joseph Hoover (122) and Siddalinga Swamy (37).

The Brijesh Patel-backed candidates were a happy bunch after sweeping the polls by huge margins. Santosh Menon bagged the secretary’s post while Vinay Mruthyunjaya, a chartered accountant by profession, was elected the treasurer.

“I was confident of winning but didn’t expect by this big a margin,” an elated Binny told reporters. “It is all because of a great team effort. I thank all our supporters,” he said.

The former India all-rounder said his priority as the KSCA president will be to further improve the cricketing infrastructure. “We want to bring up grounds of international standards. We will also focus on assisting all the clubs. We have produced many international players and I am sure will continue to do so,” he said.

Apart from the fight for five office bearers, the Swatch Cricket failed to make an impact in the contests for the Managing Committee members also.

The elections, which began at 11:00 am, saw a good turnout of 1069 members from the eligible 1976. Former India internationals Venkatesh Prasad, Rahul Dravid, G R Viswanath and B S Chandrasekhar were the popular faces at the polls.

Meanwhile, Menon confirmed Brijesh has been chosen as the KSCA’s representative for the BCCI AGM to be held on October 23.

“We name Brijesh Patel to attend, contest and vote from the KSCA at the BCCI AGM. We will be informing the CoA and the BCCI electoral officer. Tomorrow is the last day to file the nomination,” he said.

Results: Office bearers: President: Roger Binny: 943 votes; MM Harish: 111.
Vice-President: J Abhiram: 885; Joseph Hoover: 122; Siddalinga Swamy: 37.
Secretary: Santosh Menon: 810; KS Raghuram: 234.
Joint Secretary: Shavir Tarapore: 810; Preeth S Hegde: 206.
Treasurer: Vinay Mruthyunjaya: 801; BN Madhukar: 206; VS Venkatesh Gowda: 34.

Elected Managing Committee members: Life Member category: Shanti Swarup (805), Vasudev N Jaisingh (653). Institutional Member category: Bangalore Zone: Shantha Rangaswamy (816), Thilak Naidu (721), Kota Kodandaram (707). Mangaluru: Rathan Kumar (795), Raichur: Sudhindra Shinde (772), Mysuru: S Sudhakar Rai (unopposed), Shivamogga: D.S. Arun (unopposed), Dharwad: Avinash Potdar (unopposed), Tumkuru: K Shashidhar (unopposed).