![]() Everyone promises a lot but hardly anyone delivers. We should worship the one who practises what he preaches. Politics is everywhere but it should not enter cricket. What do you feel about political involvement in MCA administration? You seem to have brought all the political parties - and factions - together in the opposition group. I am stressing on what we can do, if given a chance. I am not talking about the other group or other candidates. We rely on getting the job done rather than reputation. The people we have - there may not be big names - are the ones with direct contact with clubs across Mumbai. But I have the will, the vision and the team at Mumbai Cricket Group to deliver. I can say so many things but ultimately, it’s up to the club secretaries and the voters to decide who is the right person. Why do you think there has been so much resistance to cricketers heading MCA? In the last three decades, Ajit Wadekar and Dilip Vengsarkar failed in their bid to be MCA president. This is the last chance I have since I am 66 years old and soon after the three-year-stint, I’ll be 70. There’s so much to do, so all these things taken into account, I thought I should give it a go. We have the grounds but making other facilities available should be the priority. See, you may have a brush but if you don’t have a canvas, you can’t paint. I know what the clubs need, what facilities are required, how we can create opportunities in women’s cricket - we saw the women’s team dominate the Asia Cup, what a fabulous victory, the men lost and women won. And I am confident I can do it because I have handled various roles in cricket - as a player, coach, administrator. The MCA is still repaying the loan, to make it debt-free… so it’s just not cricket. And Mumbai cricket has a reputation all over the cricket world. Organising cricket is a difficult job, beyond the bat and the ball. Ratnakar Shetty and Milind Rege, two of the finest and the most experienced minds who have been involved with Mumbai cricket for five decades, as mentors is a boon. There is so much to do and the guy who has played, has gone through this, along with the Mumbai Cricket Group team members, all of whom have been involved with maidan cricket, it’s a massive job in front of us, if elected. We have six women’s tournaments, of which only two could be hosted during the pandemic. We have 79 offices affiliated, and we host two corporate tournaments, which saw 113 teams participating in it. We play 110 total tournaments every year, even in this pandemic we could play 47. Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Karnataka beats Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala goes down to Services We have 325 clubs, more than 10,000 registered (senior men’s) players. Still, the clubs survived, the Mumbai Cricket Association survived, the wickets and the groundstaff survived, everyone struggled but survived. For two years, there was hardly any cricket played. It’s going to be a massive, massive job to get it back on track. And the pandemic has done so much damage to put Mumbai cricket back. And in between going to Kenya and Oman (as national coach). ![]() From coaching India under-19 and the senior team to director at NCA to the chief of national selection committee. I could not do it earlier since I was busy with other responsibilities. ![]() I am so happy if I can give something back to Mumbai cricket. I am (who I am) today because of Mumbai cricket. It is a duty of every cricketer who has played for Mumbai. What has driven you to get into the mess? There is a growing perception that the Mumbai cricket administration is getting messier with every passing year. Patil spells out his vision for Mumbai cricket in a chat with Sportstar. As the presidential candidate of the Mumbai Cricket Group, he will contest against Amol Kale of the Ashish Shelar-Sharad Pawar Group on October 20. The 66-year-old has now thrown his hat in the ring for Mumbai Cricket Association’s (MCA) post for president. From being a World Cup-winning all-rounder to being the India head coach, the National Cricket Academy (NCA) director and chief selector, Sandeep Patil has virtually held every post that matters on the cricketing side. ![]()
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