Ajinkya Naik, 37, was elected as the youngest-ever president of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) on Tuesday. He defeated Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar’s candidate Sanjay Naik by 107 votes in a one-sided election to take up the position.

Naik served as the secretary in the office of former MCA president Amol Kale. The election took place after the sudden demise of Kale earlier, last month.

“It’s a win for Mumbai maidaan and their club secretaries as I’m just one of them. I have been part of various committees for more than one decade. My journey has been one of a pyramid. The result came as per my expectations,” Ajinkya said after the win. Ajinkya secured 221 votes while Sanjay got 114 votes.

Soon after being elected as the president, Naik underlined that his main priority would be to create more job opportunities for cricketers. The MCA will approach corporate houses in order to do so as the issue needs to be addressed.

As per a report in the Indian Express, Naik rose up to the role with the backing of some ‘unseen power’ despite not having any political backing like his rival candidate.

“There were a lot of unseen powers, and slowly you will come to know who they were . Our mentor is Sharad Pawar sir. We have been following him for long now,” he added.