In the concluding part of his exclusive chat with mid-day, ex-skipper Sanjay Manjrekar wants to see smart moves to boost Mumbai cricket's club scene
A Kanga League match between Dadar Union SC and National CC underway at Cross Maidan in August last year. Pic/Atul Kamble
Sanjay Manjrekar's road map for the redevelopment of Mumbai cricket has thick layers of change written all over it - appoint a development programme head, organise fewer tournaments with Times Shield not being the premier tournament and accept that the Dr HD Kanga Cricket League has run its course.
Manjrekar figured in Mumbai teams across 14 seasons in which he was part of two Ranji Trophy-winning teams. Last month, Mumbai failed to qualify for the Ranji knockouts in a season that witnessed the 41-time champions losing to Gujarat and Vidarbha.
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Sanjay Manjrekar
Maidan pundits feel a dip in standards, impetus and the players' diminishing passion for club cricket are at the heart of Mumbai cricket's problems. Manjrekar, however, preferred to look at the big picture. He told mid-day on Sunday: "There are expectations from people who reckon that they [players] should feel proud about playing for Mumbai and make sacrifices to play for their clubs. You have to see where the players are going, what they are doing, what will incentivise them to play the cricket you want them to. There is too much of this you-should-be-very-happy-to-play-for-Mumbai [thinking].
"A young player will always look at opportunities that will take him forward and if there is some financial incentive. That also has to be understood… never grudge it! "I'm sure, it's quite simple to keep everything aside and look at how the youth is changing - how they want to play their cricket - and accordingly try and make the most of it."
Manjrekar, who represented Nirlon, Mahindra and Air India in inter-office cricket, felt the Times Shield, whose standards and competitiveness once matched the tough world of Indian domestic cricket, should no longer be considered the city's premier tournament. "Earlier, we used to get employed so that we play for the company. The Managing Director and everyone else got very excited that they had a cricket team. That is not happening anymore.
"Look at tournaments that are getting the maximum attendance from players. Enforcing something on the players or clubs is not right because this is an ever-changing world and we have to adapt," he said.
About the Kanga League, the monsoon tournament in which he turned out for Dadar Union Sporting Club, Manjrekar felt: "It has lost its relevance. There is no point in being good on wet pitches and all that. Basically, have matches that you can control. Change with the changing landscape. Look at the tournaments again and just decrease the number of them so that you are able to organise and focus on them better."
Development programme man needed in Mumbai
Sanjay Manjrekar has always appreciated the genuine efforts of Mumbai cricket administrators, but he has seen enough of cricket officialdom to conclude that the importance of having paid professionals can never be under-stated.
"Despite the will being there, honorary positions don't allow office bearers to have that much of an influence. Just from a Mumbai standpoint, there should be just one person heading a development programme. That is the person responsible.
"Give him a two or three-year contract and see where we are and what he has done. "There's a gun to his head and every morning he wakes up, that's [development programme] the only thing he is thinking about," stressed Manjrekar.
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