In a landmark move in India's cricket administration, former India captain Anil Kumble and pace bowling partners Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad are set to contest Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) elections for the 2011-2013 term, scheduled to be held on November 21.
Even former India captain Rahul Dravid, who is still playing international cricket, is considering contesting the elections.
Both Srinath and Prasad admitted that they will contest the elections but did not divulge much about their prospective move.
"Yes, we are contesting the KSCA elections but we will only speak to the media in detail tomorrow," Prasad said when contacted.
"I don't want to say anything now since we will talk to the media tomorrow," Srinath pointed out.
Earlier, long-standing KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel in a statement confirmed that he won't be contesting for the secretary's post during the upcoming term.
"I had the honour of serving the Karnataka State Cricket Association as its honorary secretary for the past 12 years. I contributed to the association in all my might and put my heart and soul to the growth and development of the association during these years.
"Now I have decided to step aside and not contest the ensuing elections and support the young distinguished Test cricketers Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Rahul Dravid and others in the coming electionsÂ… who have pledged to take KSCA forward in the coming challenging years," the statement added.
"We cricketers, G R VIswanath, Syed Kirmani, Roger Binny, Sudhakar Rao, J Abhiram, others and myself came together in 1998 to contribute to KSCA's growth and prosperity. We put in our best efforts collectively for the past twelve years with utmost sincerity with the interest of the institution as our single goal.
"With the changing times, I'm of the firm belief that fresh energy, new ideas and young feet are always good for an institution. We at Karnataka are indeed lucky that we have living cricketing legends Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath and others who are willing to sacrifice their time and energy to take Karnataka cricket forward," it further stated.
"I've seen these cricketers closely and I've immense faith and utmost confidence in their ability and commitments to make KSCA a model association not only of the country but also of the world."
It will be interesting to see whether they have to contest the elections or chosen unanimously.
Although there has been ex-cricketers in the administration but never have a clutch of cricketers of such stature decided to come into administration.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly also expressed his wish to be a part of the CAB administration but his role has mainly been restricted to attending the annual AGMs and working committee meetings.
