MCA writes to Uddhav Thackeray seeking guidelines to resume cricket

MCA Joint Secretary Shah Alam Shaikh submitted a letter signed by secretary Sanjay Naik, to Thackeray, seeking the way forward to organise cricket.

With the Maharashtra government steadily unlocking to attain total normalcy, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) on Friday approached chief minister Uddhav Thackeray for guidelines on resuming cricket activities that have been stalled in the city for three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

MCA Joint Secretary Shah Alam Shaikh submitted a letter signed by secretary Sanjay Naik, to Thackeray, seeking the way forward to organise cricket.

The letter, a copy of which is with mid-day, stated: "Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, all the cricketing activities have come to a standstill. We support all the initiatives taken by the government towards combating the pandemic and have contributed to the Chief Minister's Fund as our way of showing support to the efforts of the government.

Anxious players

"At the same time, we have to understand that there are thousands of players, who are anxiously waiting to get back to cricketing activities and pursue their careers. They have been patiently waiting for this pandemic to get over. However, it seems we have to learn to live with the virus. In these unprecedented times, we request you to kindly provide some guidelines/standard operating procedures regarding getting back to cricket.

"We would greatly appreciate if you could provide us with the necessary directions on as to when and how we can resume cricketing activities."

MCA is hopeful that the government will soon provide a direction. "Instead of waiting for the government's directive, we thought of approaching them as our members are keen to know when local cricket will resume. We are hopeful that the government will soon give us a guideline," Shah Alam told mid-day.

Will Kanga League happen?

Alam however, remained non-committal on the fate of the renowned Dr HD Kanga Cricket League happening this season. "We will wait for the government's response. Only once we receive that, can we start planning for the tournament. It all depends on which month we will get permission to start our cricket," Shah Alam said.

Meanwhile, the MCA Apex Council is keen on forming an interim Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC) that will appoint the coaches and selectors for the forthcoming season. As per the MCA constitution, the CIC can only be formed in the general body meeting, which they have not been able to call due to the pandemic. "MCA members' consent will be sought through email or a letter before appointing the CIC. That's the only way we can go about things in the current situation," an MCA official said.

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