MCA restores Kanga League's July date

MUMBAI: In a landmark decision, the Mumbai Cricket Association has decided to restore the start of the Dr HD Kanga League, traditionally a monsoon tournament, to July. With Mumbai experiencing heavy rains, the Kanga League had been held in September for the last few years. However, according to sources, at a meeting of the Mumbai Cricket Association's Apex Council on Saturday, the MCA decided to advance the start of the Kanga League to July-end.
Founded in 1948, the Kanga League was traditionally held in Mumbai between July and October, during the monsoon season, when the wickets and the grounds in the city are wet, and thus unpredictable and difficult to play on. The idea behind the tournament was to acclimatize Mumbai's batsmen to the normally damp English conditions. However, with severe rain at this time of the year, the Kanga was moved to September of late.
"Playing the Kanga League in July is a great move by the MCA. It is one of Mumbai's finest tournaments. It has contributed in making Mumbai's cricketers khadoos stubborn. The Kanga needs to be played in wet conditions, and the umpires need to realise that, instead of looking at the outfield and run-up. Mumbai's cricket was so strong because a tournament like this enabled our cricketers to prepare three months in advance compared to other state teams. If you bat for one hour in the Kanga league, it's like batting for 4-5 hours in first-class cricket," former Mumbai captain Milind Rege told TOI.
MCA has appointed Satish Soni, a retired government official, as the COO, projects, for a term of two years.
The MCA also passed a resolution thanking state Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for revising the police bandobast charges for international/IPL cricket matches in Maharashtra.
In another decision, the Apex Council has recommended that the kit and equipment subsidy fund for affiliated ordinary maidan clubs be increased from Rs 10 crores to Rs 20 cr.