T20 Mumbai League: Play fearless, and respect your opposition, Sachin Tendulkar advises young cricketers

Mumbai: Batting great Sachin Tendulkar on Saturday urged the participants of the inaugural T20 Mumbai League to play fearless cricket while respecting the opposition. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the six-team event, Tendulkar, also the ambassador of the league, said the initiative would bring “recognition and appreciation” to a number of club cricketers, besides providing them livelihood. “My message to all youngsters here is to be competitive and play cricket as hard as you can, but you got to play it fair. With appreciation and recognition, do not forget that the game has got you here. So don’t disrespect the game,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_4385425” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] ARCS Andheri train at Wankhede Stadium ahead of their opener. Courtesy: Twitter/@ARCS Andheri[/caption] “I think this league will be very important for Mumbai cricketers. It’s all about getting opportunities and providing a platform to express yourself. For any sportsman, the most important thing is recognition and appreciation. This league is going to do that and also provide employment to support staff. Even ten years ago, there were no such leagues where we could have a career playing any sport,” he observed. ‘Focus on solutions’ Further, Tendulkar dwelled on the importance of making best use of the available resources and urged teams to focus on finding solutions instead. “Champions make the best of facilities that are available to them, without complaining. There will always be something lacking. I would ask the players to go out, give your best, and when there are problems, find solutions. Don’t focus on what’s not there; focus on what you’ve got. And I think you have got plenty to prove,” he said. The league will also witness the presence of cricketers who have played international and first-class cricket, besides the Indian Premier League (IPL). India-regular Ajinkya Rahane will lead North Mumbai Panthers while Shreyas Iyer, who was part of the limited-overs’ series in South Africa and led India ‘B’ to Deodhar Trophy title, will lead Mumbai North Central. A host of domestic stars, such as Iqbal Abdulla, Suryakumar Yadav, Siddhesh Lad and Abhishek Nayar will also add quality to the event. Tendulkar said that the league presents an excellent opportunity to senior cricketers to share their experiences with the upcoming bunch. “For senior cricketers, this is your golden opportunity to share all your knowledge with youngsters. I feel with international cricketers participating in this tournament, it’s going to be really special for youngsters.” He also had a word of praise for Prithvi Shaw, who won the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year. “I was watching Prithvi Shaw’s matches in New Zealand and the way he has progressed is remarkable. But his journey has just begun, and I know that he will not rest on his laurels and pull his foot off the accelerator. This is the time (for him) to press the accelerator as hard as possible, work as hard as possible. There are many mentors here in the team, make the most of this opportunity,” Tendulkar said. Besides unveiling of the trophy, the ceremony also had impressive performances from Bollywood A-listers Madhuri Dixit, Kriti Sanon and Sidharth Malhotra in addition to other cultural performances. Also present on the occasion were league’s commissioner Sunil Gavaskar and chief mentor Dilip Vengsarkar.