The new Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) office bearers have decided to bring the monsoon flavour back to the Dr HD Kanga Cricket League
MCA president Sharad Pawar (second from right) chairs the managing committee meeting at the MCA office yesterday. To his right are vice-president Ashish Shelar and joint secretary Dr Unmesh Khanvilkar. Vice-president Dilip Vengsarkar is to Pawar's left
The new Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) office bearers have decided to bring the monsoon flavour back to the Dr HD Kanga Cricket League.
MCA president Sharad Pawar (second from right) chairs the managing committee meeting at the MCA office yesterday. To his right are vice-president Ashish Shelar and joint secretary Dr Unmesh Khanvilkar. Vice-president Dilip Vengsarkar is to Pawar's left. Pic/Atul Kamble
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President Sharad Pawar, who chaired the first Managing Committee yesterday post the June 17 elections, decided to revert to the old tournament structure.
An official announcement is expected today.
So, what made the new committee go back to the old format? "During the election campaigning, a lot of candidates got a feedback that the clubs are not happy with the new tournament structure. The president was briefed about it in the meeting and he felt it was necessary to go back to the old format," an official told mid-day.
The Kanga League is expected to start in the first week of August. Thirteen league matches will be held every Sunday as opposed to Saturday and Sunday in the current format.
Although former vice-president Ravi Savant, who had initiated a change in the tournament structure in 2013, had said that the new format would stay, once he lost the elections for the Joint Secretary's post, the new committee decided to go back to the earlier format. "Even those who were close to Savant did not raise any objection in the meeting. They agreed unanimously," an official said.
With the Kanga League going back to its original format, the other knockout tournaments like Purshottam and Talim Shields etc will also return.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar is expected to have a word with Mumbai cricket stalwart Wasim Jaffer and urge him not to play for Vidarbha.
At the meeting, Vengsarkar stressed on the need to have the Mumbai Premier League T20 this season. "There will be eight teams and the modalities will be worked out soon," said an official.