The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has decided to move on. Even without Sunil Gavaskar.
On Friday, the management committee of the MCA decided to hold a meeting of its Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC) without its new chief. Gavaskar was appointed chairman of the CIC at a recent MCA annual general meeting.
MCA was forced to take the decision faced by a few pressing needs. The association has to immediately find two selectors for different reasons — one (Abey Kuruvilla) has completed his four-year term and another (Shishir Hattangadi) has resigned recently. Besides, the MCA has also to find coaches for its age-group teams.
MCA’s under-22 tournament for the Shalini Bhalekar Memorial Trophy starts on September 15, a day before Gavaskar is expected to arrive in the city. The mandate for the CIC is to find coaches and selectors.
The CIC meeting will take place on Monday. It was confirmed to DNA by MCA joint secretary Hemant Waingankar after Friday’s evening meeting of the managing committee.
“The important decision was toimmediately call a meeting of theCIC. It will be held on Monday,” Waingankar said.
It is not clear who will chair the CIC but MCA sources say someone like Sanjay Manjrekar could be the one. The candidate could also be a senior member like Milind Rege, a former Mumbai captain and selector.
Gavaskar was brought into the MCA panel after nearly 15 years on the insistence of president Sharad Pawar despite the reported ‘reservations’ of a few members who thought the former India captain may not be able to spare enough time for the job.
MCA Cricket Improvement Committee: Sunil Gavaskar (chairman), Milind Rege, Sanjay Manjrekar, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Dr. PV Shetty, Deepak Patil, Diana Edulji.
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