KSCA elections: Former pacer Venkatesh Prasad elected as next president

Former India fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad has been elected president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) following the elections held during the Annual General Meeting at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.Former India cricketer Sujith Somasunder has been elected vice president, while Santosh Menon has been chosen as secretary, a post he earlier held from 2019 to 2022. BN Madhukar has been elected treasurer, and BK Ravi from the KN Shanth Kumar panel has secured the joint secretary’s position.Prasad earlier served as KSCA vice president from 2010 to 2013 and played 33 Tests and 161 ODIs for India. Prasad now will have the onerous task of bringing top-flight cricket back to the state, which got sidelined after the stampede near the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4 in which 11 Royal Challengers Bengaluru fans were killed.The panel had the support of former India cricketers Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath, who were KSCA president and secretary from 2010 to 2013. Prasad received 749 votes, while his opponent KN Shanth Kumar received 588 votes.Somasunder, who recently worked as head of education at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, received 719 votes for vice president, while D Vinod Sivappa received 588 votes. Menon won the secretary post with 672 votes, compared to ES Jairam’s 632.

Madhukar secured the treasurer’s position with 736 votes, ahead of MS Vinay, who received 571 votes. The Shanth Kumar panel won the joint secretary post with Ravi receiving 669 votes, compared to AV Shashidhara’s 638.The new appointments come at a time when the KSCA has been under focus after the June 4 stampede at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL 2025 victory parade, which resulted in 11 deaths.