Former captains, senior MCA officials meet to discuss Mumbai Cricket's way forward after dismal year

Mumbai: Former Mumbai captains including Milind Rege, Sanjay Manjrekar and Sameer Dighe along with senior officials of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) “brainstormed” for betterment of city’s cricket on Tuesday. Speaking to the media afterwards, CIC member and former India pacer Raju Kulkarni said, “It was a meeting where we did a lot of brain-storming and we want to improve. We were on the same page – the team management, CIC (cricket improvement committee of MCA). “But one thing on which we were unanimous is that the repair work is not to be done, it has to be restructured,” said the former speedster. [caption id=“attachment_3094478” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of the MCA logo. Getty images[/caption] “It was a fruitful discussion on what steps should be taken for the development of Mumbai cricket,” MCA joint secretary Unmesh Khanvilkar said. The former captains met members of the MCA Cricket Improvement Committee and the Bombay High Court-appointed Ad Hoc committee following the debacle in the Ranji Trophy, where the 41-time winners were knocked out of the preliminary round. An MCA insider, who was present at the meeting, said that suggestions were mainly on the structure, how back-up players can be developed and how the lacunae in the present structure of tournaments can be removed. According to another insider, it was also suggested that players should be dealt with strictly. “Players should play for the team and tweak their game according to the match situation. This is not happening,” he added. According to Kulkarni, the cricket body will need many such brainstorming sessions. “We will involve a lot of cricketers and try to involve more and more cricketers,” he said. Before this meeting, CIC members had met senior players like Surya Kumar Yadav, Akhil Herwadkar, Siddhesh Lad Dhawal Kulkarni and coach Vinayak Samant. Veteran cricket administrator Ravi Sawant and Samant himself too were present for the meeting.