By IANS
Bangalore : Over 1,000 members of the Karnataka State Cricket Association vote here Sunday to elect new office-bearers after a bitter election campaign involving former and current test players.
The campaign has been marred by serious allegations against present secretary and former Test player Brijesh Patel by a group led by Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, son of former Mysore Maharaja.
Patel has been the secretary for the last nine years and is contesting for a third term.
Wadiyar is in the fray for the president’s post and is facing Gundappa Vishwanath, a former Test player backed by the Patel group.
Besides allegations of lack of transparency in running the KSCA and financial irregularities, the campaign saw a furious debate on whether only those who have played the game at least at the state-level make better administrators of the sport.
Patel received a boost on the eve of the voting, with local media reporting that India captain Rahul Dravid and ace leggie Anil Kumble were all praise for the way he has led the body for the last nine years.
Wadiyar also got his share of support with liquor baron and Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka Vijay Mallya issuing a statement from London backing him, saying it was time to bring in fresh faces to run the association.
Mallya had recently become the president of a leading cricket club in Bangalore.