Mumbai rope in Bunty Mahadik as bowling coach for season

MUMBAI: The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) on Friday roped in former pacer Bunty Mahadik as the bowling coach for the forthcoming season. Mahadik made his debut for Mumbai under the captaincy of Sachin Tendulkar in 1992-93 and then played under the captaincy of Ravi Shastri.
Mahadik was a product of the BCA Mafatlal Bowling scheme, which produced many bowlers for India in the '90s, and, along with Abey Kuruvilla, was sent to Australia to train under England bowling great Frank Tyson.
“I’m honoured and happy that the MCA has shown faith in me. I’ll do this job with all the passion I have for Mumbai cricket. At this level, I’d want to boost the players’ self-belief and help them with strategy, rather than point out too many errors and teach them the basics again,” Mahadik told TOI.
Practice ties to restart cricket
Meanwhile, after nine months, cricket is set to resume in the city again. With the Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy beginning on January 10, Mumbai have kick-started their preparations for a delayed, severely curtailed domestic season.
On Friday, the new selection committee, headed by former India pacer Salil Ankola, on its first day of work, picked 60 players who were divided into four teams for practice games at the MCA Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy in BKC and the Wankhede Stadium.
The development comes just a day after the Maharashtra government allowed sportspersons to train outdoors. The practice games will be played from December 21-25.