12 August,2009 08:15 AM IST | | Amol Karhadkar
Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai have yet to play their first tournament this season, but that has not stopped the flow of controversy.
Only recently, it was reported that Mumbai Cricket Association vice-president Dilip Vengsarkar opposed the selection of Sunil Gavaskar as head of the Cricket Improvement Committee because he felt the batting legend would not be able to devote enough time for the committee since he would be away most of the time. Despite Vengsarkar's reservations, MCA president Sharad Pawar went ahead and appointed Gavaskar to head the high-profile committee.
Yesterday, former Mumbai skipper Shishir Hattangadi resigned as senior selector.
It is learnt that Hattangadi was miffed over a decision to include veterans Amol Muzumdar and Vinayak Samant in the Mumbai squad for the Buchi Babu tournament in Chennai after the selection committee had agreed to send a younger team to soak in the Buchi Babu experience.
However, both Muzumdar and Samant were inducted in the squad without the consent of all four selectors. According to an MCA insider, "This made Hattangadi, who aspired to be chairman of selectors, very unhappy since he was opposed to Muzumdar's inclusion."
Meanwhile, there was no official word from the Mumbai Cricket Association. Both the joint secretaries Hemant Waingankar who is also the convenor of the selection committee and Lalchand Rajput remained unavailable for comment. Shivalkar, Abdul Ismail and Abey Kuruvilla are other members of the panel.
Muzumdar (7593 runs), a veteran of 16 seasons, is 31 runs shy of becoming the highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy. Samant, who at 36, scored his maiden first-class century in last year's Ranji final against UP in Hyderabad, has been Mumbai's first-choice wicketkeeper for almost a decade.
