Mumbai's cricket coach drama: MCA appoints Muzumdar, CIC sticks to Powar

Their poor performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament notwithstanding Mumbairsquos preparation for the 50overs Vijay Hazare Trophy hasnrsquot got off to a better startRamesh PowarOn Friday the Mumbai Cricket Association MCA secretary Sanjay Naik and joint secretary Shahalam Shaikh informed the allpowerful Cricket Improvement Committee CIC headed by Lalchand Rajput that domestic stalwart Amol Muzumdar has been appointed head coach for the 202021 seasonThe letter stated that the appointment was done as per Rajputrsquos three suggestions in an email on February 1 and considering there is limited time on handSelection trials onSelection trials are underway with over 100plus cricketers trialled over the last one week However the CIC preferred to stick with the candidate of their choicemdashRamesh PowarReminding MCA that the coachrsquos appointment is CICrsquos decision Rajput in response to MCArsquos email a copy of which is with midday wrote ldquoThe CIC has the prerogative to appoint the coach and the CIC committee feels that Mr Ramesh Powar is the right candidate to be the coach of the Mumbai senior team since he has been the coach of the Indian senior womenrsquos team and is associated with the National Cricket Academy as a senior coachrdquo Rajput also made his displeasure known after not getting a response from the MCA officebearers over previous communication in the last couple of weeksRajput in his previous email had suggested announcing the selectors and coaches for respective teams as early as possible and begin with various agegroup tournaments The CIC came to know of coach Amit Pagnisrsquos resignation after the T20 tournament from the media Rajput had statedIt is learnt that the MCA has been contemplating sacking the CIC consisting of Rajput Raju Kulkarni and Sameer Dighe after being given the mandate from the general body on December 27 However a veteran exMCA official played a key role in ensuring that the CIC functions without any interferenceConflict of interest issueAn MCA official said two CIC members are allegedly in conflict of interest ldquoThe two CIC members are disqualified because they couldnrsquot get any relief in the conflict of interest issue So the new CIC members are yet to be appointed After appointing a new CIC they will appoint the coachrdquo the official said