If storms such as the Kiran Powar episode continue, there will be only one direction for Mumbai cricket and that is, downhill
Mumbai cricket keeps making news for all the wrong reasons. The latest storm came in the form of Mumbai under-16 coach Kiran Powar’s resignation which he handed in after the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) pulled him up for not appearing before them after various allegations were levelled against him.
It is highly unlikely that the former Mumbai and India under-19 batsman would want to have anything to do with the MCA, who he believes ill-treated him.
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President Sharad Pawar, along with vice-president Dilip Vengsarkar, still have some willow left to play an innings on a burning deck before the Lodha Committee’s restrictive recommendations are implemented. File pic
Without taking sides in this issue, fact is that an increasing number of former players are looking at other state teams for coaching assignments and that is what will happen in the case of Powar as well. Of course, he has already coached in Vidarbha and is known to speak his mind.
Coaches clashing with state associations is nothing new, but coaches landing up in trouble because of not wearing a particular t-shirt is sure rare. According to Powar, Pandit — also the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team coach — insisted he wears the indoor academy attire when he turned up for nets in a t-shirt which had the Mumbai U-16 coach logo on it.
Powar had good reason to be slighted if the showdown — as Powar said — took place in front of his young trainees. A senior official from the association should have sorted out the matter and let the game go on as it were, but as it turns out, the chestnuts were deep in the fire and no one wanted to pull them out.
Powar said he didn’t even have a contract with the MCA and was paid daily wages. Sairaj Bahutule, who left for Bengal after being appointed Mumbai’s under-23 coach, didn’t have a contract.
If Mumbai cricket pundits are to be believed, administration is at its nadir in the MCA. For all these years, city cricket well-wishers have harped on the fact that everything is vote-driven, but now we hear that officials are numb with power.
The recent closure of the IDBI Federal Life Insurance-MCA bowling scheme is nothing but a loss to Mumbai cricket. At the heart of the problem was the MCA wanting to deal with the firm directly and not with the scheme’s promoters, something which Vighnesh Shahane, IDBI Insurance chief executive officer (and former Mumbai Ranji Trophy fast bowler) was unwilling to do. While MCA’s after thought must be respected — after thought, because the promoters were involved right from the start — what was depressing to hear was that Mumbai cricket didn’t need Jeff Thomson to raise the fast bowling stocks.
From what I hear, Thomson had a beneficial influence on even the Ranji Trophy-winning Mumbai bowlers. Two young pacers, Tushar Deshpande and Minad Manjrekar were taken by the firm to Australia to be trained at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane.
This is the second time that a vibrant bowling scheme involving an overseas stalwart has shut shop, the first being the BCA-Mafatlal Bowling Scheme headed by Frank Tyson in the 1990s. The reason for that closure was, can you believe it, a shortage of grounds in Mumbai.
The MCA mandarins need to do some soul-searching. Powar remarked that city cricket officials only want title after title across all levels, but they are not training their guns towards the development of players. It may have been an opinion raised in the heat of the moment, but when the dust settles, it’s worth brainstorming whether this is indeed the case.
Another common refrain is that deserving personnel are not used in critical coaching positions. Every coach need not be a domestic achiever, but having coaches with first-class cricket experience will not be a hindrance. At the same time, the former stalwarts should be open to learning modern methods of coaching since the game has evolved.
It’s time for the MCA to value the wealth of cricket knowledge in the city and get people to genuinely contribute. No other city has produced so many Test and first-class players and to see only a small number of them being involved in coaching and administration is astounding. Let’s face it, the problem lies with the administration, and president Sharad Pawar, along with vice-president Dilip Vengsarkar, still have some willow left to play an innings on a burning deck before the Lodha Committee’s restrictive recommendations are implemented.
The intention of every administrator should be to leave the game in better shape. Unfortunately, not many among the current lot will have the pleasure of that achievement. The earlier breed of administrators fought hard for votes, but after the elections, they gave everything to ensure the game was looking up.
Madhav Mantri, the former Test wicketkeeper, who served as president of the MCA in the late 1980s and early 1990s, was one such administrator. One morning, he stepped into Nari Contractor’s seventh floor cabin at Mafatlal House and asked the former India captain as to what can be done to uplift Mumbai cricket. What emerged from that meeting was a bowling scheme which ended after Mantri ceased to be president.
Today is Mantri’s birth anniversary. His commitment must not only be remembered, but emulated too.
mid-day’s group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello. Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
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