Sunday vote to decide if Kumble will run K'taka cricket

About 4,000 members of the Karnataka State Cricket Association will vote on Sunday to decide whether veteran cricketers Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath get to manage the sport in the state.

About 4,000 members of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) will vote on Sunday to decide whether veteran cricketers Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath get to manage the sport in the state.

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Kumble, the ace leggie, and speedster Srinath are locked in a straight fight against Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, the scion of the former Mysore royal family, and A V Jayaprakash, international umpire, for the post of president and secretary.

Wadiyar had defeated legendary batsman GR Vishwanath three years ago in an acrimonious poll as the Wadiyar camp wanted to end former Test batsman Brijesh Patel's long reign as KSCA secretary.

Patel won, however, for a third term. Those polls were dominated by allegations of mismanagement of the association and the game itself by him.

This time he is not contesting, ending his 12-year rule over the state cricket body.

The campaign this time has been on whether Kumble and Srinath have administrative experience and time to devote developing cricket in the state given their other commitments.

Wadiyar is banking on his performance in the last three years during which he claims the state team's performance in domestic circuits like Ranji Trophy has improved significantly.

Patel is backing the Kumble-Srinath team that includes former paceman BK Venkatesh Prasad also. Prasad is contesting for one of the three vice president's post.

Mallya has switched sides to back the Kumble-Srinath team.

In the last elections he was with Wadiyar and won a place in the 18-member managing committee. Results will be out on Sunday.