Mumbai Cricket Association secretary allays fear as appointment of CIC delayed

MUMBAI: While cricket fans around the world wait for a final word on the fate of the T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in Australia later this year, and fans of the Indian Premier League (IPL) keep their fingers crossed about the 13th edition of the tournament, players of Mumbai’s maidans have their ears trained on what may lie ahead for them in the coming season that has been massively disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In previous years, probable across age groups extending up to Ranji Trophy hopefuls would have been using the Mumbai Cricket Association’s (MCA) facilities –– both indoors and outdoors –– spread across the city, and looking forward to the popular monsoon tournament, the Kanga League. But everything is on hold as of today as the virus wreaks havoc throughout the country.
The MCA held its Apex Council meeting on June 8 and key issues like the 2020-21 cricketing season, fixing an appropriate date for the Annual General Meeting (AGM), discussion regarding appointment of the ad-hoc Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC) and other related issues were scheduled to be held; but not much headway was possible.
“We cannot take decisions regarding cricketing activities till the time we get a green signal from the government of Maharashtra,” Sanjay Naik, the MCA secretary, told TOI on Tuesday.
“The government has made it clear that sporting activities are not amongst the main priorities today. Saving lives is much more important, so we will have to wait for things to improve,” he added.
“Only once we get the necessary permissions and the Standard Operating Procedure guidelines have been framed can we think about moving ahead.”

Formation of bodies like the CIC requires considerable discussion and have met with controversies in the past. And given that one is already into the middle of June, would it not be prudent to show some urgency in putting the body in place?
“We are not very worried about the time frame. We will hold meetings with those who are likely to be appointed when the time is right. Access to technology too has been helping us,” insisted Naik.