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The Mumbai selectors resigned from their posts hours before the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) ad-hoc committee meeting on Friday that was to decide their fate. Chairman Ajit Agarkar and his colleagues Nilesh Kulkarni, Sunil More and Ravi Thakkar emailed their resignations to the ad-hoc committee and the MCA CEO CS Naik on Friday afternoon. The resignation came after the conclusion of Mumbai’s season even though there had been moves to end their stint mid-season.
The selectors in Mumbai are appointed by the Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC), but last month, a group of members passed a resolution to sack the selection panel. The CIC, however, overruled the resolution “unanimously”. The bone of contention had been that the clubs accused the selectors of not watching enough club games; the CIC said their commitment was beyond question.
This was an unprecedented situation. On one hand, the MCA members were now calling for the selectors to be removed; on the other, the CIC, set up by their own managing committee, was against questioning their commitment. In a bind, the ad-hoc committee is believed to have taken legal advice before the meeting. It is understood the ad-hoc committee conveyed to the selectors they couldn’t set aside the SGM resolution.
It is not yet clear if the resignations have been accepted.
It is understood the selection committee has not been popular with the MCA members. Parsee Gymkhana vice-president and secretary Khodadad S Yazdegardi sought the removal of selectors through an SGM back in July 2018 but didn’t succeed. The matter also died down as Mumbai began the season by winning the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The move against the selectors regained momentum when Mumbai failed to make the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy this season, which led to the meeting in February where the resolution to sack them was passed. They, however, bowed out of the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with a win against UP in the last Super League game on Tuesday, which wasn’t enough to ensure them a berth in the final.
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