Swami Vivekanand (Borivli) lodges protest; claims Bandra team don’t pay heed to Mumbai Cricket Association's list of ineligible players
Swami Vivekanand International (Borivli) school has lodged a protest against Rizvi Springfield (Bandra) for fielding overage players in the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) Harris Shield Elite Division boys U-16 inter-school tournament.
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Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has released a list of 34 players who have been declared ineligible to play in U-16 tournaments, a copy of which is with mid-day. Four players from the list are from Rizvi Springfield and are playing in the ongoing Harris Shield tournament. On Tuesday, an Al-Barkaat MMI's (Kurla) player was handed a year's ban for being overage.
Played under protest
MSSA cricket secretary Esmero Figueiredo said that the match between Swami Vivekanand and Rizvi is being played under protest. "We have received a letter from Swami Vivekanand School stating that some players from Rizvi, who have been declared overage by the MCA, are still playing in the MSSA tournament. We will have a meeting soon where we will decide what action needs to be taken," said Figueiredo.
Meanwhile, Swami Vivekanand director Yogesh Patel felt that it is high time the overage menace is dealt with in a proper manner. "It is unfair that schools choose to play overage players just to win an inter-school title. The younger players get demoralised playing against boys, who are elder to them by five to six years. We have sent a letter to MSSA and I hope they take proper action. I fail to understand that when the MCA has not selected the players in the Mumbai U-16 team as they are overage, how can MSSA allow them to play in their U-16 tournament?" asked Patel.
Rizvi await letter
Rizvi coach Raju Pathak said: "We have not received any such official letter from mssa about the protest. We will deal with the issue when we get an official complaint."
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