MCA forms CIC with Rajput, Kulkarni, Dighe as members

The Mumbai Cricket Association on Tuesday formed its Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC) with three former India players Lalchand Rajput, Raju Kulkarni and Sameer Dighe as its members. Rajput will head the committee, said an MCA Apex Council member, who attended the Apex Council meeting on Tuesday.

“We have decided to form the CIC with three former cricketers with Rajput heading it,” the member said.

He also said that a special committee has been formed to oversee the formation of a cricket museum inside the Wankhede stadium. “This committee comprises President Vijay Patil, former BCCI office-bearers Ravi Sawant, Prof Ratnakar Shetty, Naveen Shetty, senior journalist Clayton Murzello, and Devendra Prabhudesai,” the member said.

He added that the association has decided to form a special committee with regards to celebrating the golden jubilee of Test debut of former India captain Sunil Gavaskar. Cricketer Ankit Chavan had requested MCA to take up the issue of his life ban for his alleged involvement in IPL spot fixing case with BCCI.

However, MCA made it clear it would not interfere in the matter, another Apex Council member said. Cricket in the megacity has come to a grinding halt since the outbreak of COVID-19 and Mumbai is one of the worst affected cities in the country. According to the official, MCA will form a three-member committee, which will come out with a Standard Operating Procedures for resumption of cricket and then forward it to the Maharashtra government for a final approval.

“A suggestion came from a member that like BCCI have formed their SOPs, we should also form our own SOPs and hence we decided to form a committee,” he said, adding it is still not clear when the training of players will exactly resume.

Meanwhile, MCA Apex Council member Ajinkya Naik has given a proposal to MCA to devote a permanent seat to recently-retired Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the stand of the Wankhede Stadium where he had hit the World Cup-winning six in 2011. It is understood that MCA President is keen for the project.