MCA to award contracts to non-India and non-IPL players

The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has decided to award central contracts to city players, but national and IPL players will be excluded from the list. There are 15 India players with international or IPL contracts in the Mumbai team. The MCA has said that the new initiative is meant for those Mumbai players who do not have a national or IPL deal.

The MCA will select about 15 players and will group them in three grades. "To ensure long-term player development and well-being, the Apex Council has approved central contracts for players, reinforcing its commitment to providing structured support and financial security to emerging talent," the MCA said in a statement after an Apex Council meeting on Wednesday. The contracts will start at the start of next season.

Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur, Ayush Mhatre, Tushar Deshpande, Musheer Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Suryansh Shedge, Atharva Ankolekar and Onkar Tarmale are the players with either national or IPL contracts or both.

The association will also start an inter-college tournament. In the Mumbai cricket ecosystem, inter-school tournaments such as the Harris Shield and Giles Shield are well known. However, there has been no tournament for college students, something former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar had long been insisting on. The tournament has been named after Vengsarkar.

"An Inter-College Tournament will be instituted in the name of Dilip Vengsarkar, celebrating excellence, leadership and the enduring legacy of Mumbai cricket. The tournament will serve as a vital platform for nurturing young talent at the collegiate level," MCA said.

"Our vision is to create a robust pathway from college cricket to the highest levels of the game. Naming the Inter-College Tournament after Dilip Vengsarkar reflects the values of excellence and leadership that we want young cricketers to aspire to. Central contracts are a step towards empowering players with stability and confidence, while the T20 scouting tournament will ensure that Mumbai continues to identify and nurture talent suited for the future of the game," MCA president Ajinkya Naik said.