The Mumbai Cricket Association has stopped short of saying that it can't grant former first-class cricketer Vilas Godbole his monthly pension with retrospective effect. Godbole, 78, who played for Bombay v Ceylon in 1965, did not realise he was eligible until this writer pointed it out through a Facebook quiz in 2018.

Godbole was then coaxed by cricket consultant Dr Makarand Waingankar to approach the BCCI for a confirmation of the first-class status to the January 8-10, 1965 match held at the Brabourne Stadium.