Sachin Tendulkar gives suggestions to revive Mumbai's cricket glory

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday made several suggestions to improve Mumbai cricket, among them increase in number of grounds in the space-starved city. He was also for avoiding bus journeys for the squad, especially at night, sources at the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) said.

Mumbai, who have clinched the Ranji Trophy 41 times, have failed to win the coveted national championship in recent times, and the team's chances at the ongoing Vijay Hazare trophy also seem bleak.

After the new managing committee of MCA took over on October 4, it held a meeting with the legendary batsman at the association's facility at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai.

The meeting was attended by president Vijay Patil, vice-president Amol Kale, secretary Sanjay Naik and members of the Apex Council including Ajinkya Naik, Amit Dani, Gaurav Payadde and Vihang Sarnaik.

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A source said Tendulkar made over 15 suggestions, and the prominent ones among them were no night-time travel, no bus journeys, and ensuring respectful exit for senior players. He also batted for increase in the number of grounds, good renumeration for support staff, 14-member squads for school cricket and encouragement for women's cricket.

Tendulkar also said that minutes of meetings of the selection committee be recorded, the source said.

A senior MCA official said half of the suggestions were in the process of being implemented.

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MCA Apex Council member Vihang Sarnaik tweeted, "Had our first Apex Council meet today and we were joined by 'The Lil Master' who shared his vision and thoughts with us. Im blessed to have had this discussion while we work towards our common goal of developing and taking Mumbai cricket to much greater heights."

Meanwhile, sources also said that BCCI's electoral officer has cleared the name of MCA secretary Sanjay Naik to vote in the national cricket body's polls, notwithstanding objections raised by a few MCA members. 

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