Vinayak Samant, Mumbai Ranji team coach, set to be sacked

Vinayak Samant

Mumbai's dismal Ranji Trophy performance has put coach Vinayak Samant under the radar. For the second time in a row, the 41-time champions were unable to make it to the knockout stage of Ranji Trophy after being unable to win outright against Saurashtra last week. Mumbai's senior team will perhaps end the season without a trophy.

mid-day has learnt that the members during Tuesday's Apex Council meeting were unanimous in calling for Samant's removal as coach after Mumbai's final Ranji Trophy match ends against Madhya Pradesh.

MCA sources said that Samant will be issued a 30-day notice before terminating his one-year contract that ends in May.

Samant was appointed coach just before the domestic season kicked off after Sulakshan Kulkarni refused to accept the revised terms.

During the Tuesday's meeting, the names of Lalchand Rajput and Sanjay Bangar cropped up as potential candidates to coach Mumbai for the next season. The MCA is keen to have a former Test player to coach the team. The Apex Council has also agreed to open up their kitty to hire a "top" coach.

In another development, all eight franchise owners of the T20 Mumbai League have written to the MCA to disclose the audited financial reports of the revenue and expenses of the two seasons. The team owners are requesting for transparency. They have also expressed their wish to directly deal with the MCA instead of Probability Sport, the organiser of the T20 league.

Meanwhile, the much-awaited Annual General Meeting of the MCA is scheduled to be held on April 17. Key appointments of various committees, including the Cricket Improvement Committee will be formed at the AGM as per the new constitution. Uday Shinde, Senior deputy Accountant General of Maharashtra, attended his first Apex Council meeting.

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