MCA must rope in a strong character as Mumbai coach: Karsan Ghavri

Amit Pagnis, Ex-India player Nilesh Kulkarni and Former India pacer Ghavri

Former India pacer and Mumbai Cricket Association's (MCA) ex-chief of the Cricket Improvement Committee Karsan Ghavri has called for long-term planning and proper investment in the appointment of the Mumbai coach.

Amit Pagnis stepped down from the coach's post after Mumbai's poor show at the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20Trophy, where they lost four matches and won one. Ghavri, 69, who closely followed Mumbai's campaign in the tournament, called it a pathetic performance. The Suryakumar Yadav-led Mumbai had their solitary win against Andhra by five wickets on Tuesday. "Even in my wildest dreams I never imagined a Mumbai team doing so badly. The fielding was poor, bowling was unimpressive and overall there seemed to be no planning at all," Ghavri told mid-day on Thursday.

"We have coaches available, but it's a matter of how you treat them. You can't give them contracts for two or three months. Give them a longer contract of two or three years and then judge them," remarked Ghavri, who was chief coach of the Ranji Trophy-winning Saurashtra team last season. Ghavri, who represented the country in 39 Tests and 19 ODIs, advised the MCA to pick a strong personality as coach. "The coach should be a great motivator and mentor. People like Sulakshan Kulkarni or Lalchand Rajput or Chandrakant Pandit are coaches who can get the best out of players. MCA needs such strong characters."

Ex-Mumbai captain Nilesh Kulkarni too wants MCA to bring back some of the previous coaches. "Lalu [Rajput], Chandu [Pandit], Pravin Amre, Sulakshan, Paras Mhambrey, Sairaj Bahutule, Amol Muzumdar, Wasim Jaffer and Ramesh Powar, all are guiding other state teams. If any of these names can be brought back into the Mumbai system, we will get the desired results," said Kulkarni.