Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar says the time has come for more corporate leagues in order to generate employment for cricketers.
Appointed brand ambassador by a private enterprise that launched an ‘Excellence In Cricket’ (EIC) initiative here on Tuesday, Vengsarkar felt there was a need for the Mumbai Cricket Association to revive the Twenty20 Corporate Trophy.
“It’s not been held for many years. It has to be revived and mileage given to the corporates. Then only will they employ cricketers,” he said.
Known as the Lord of Lord’s for his three consecutive centuries at London’s famous cricket ground, and also for his passionate views on Mumbai cricket, Vengsarkar expressed dejection at Mumbai’s dismal performances in this year’s Ranji Trophy.
“Mumbai cricket has fallen. When I was included in the Mumbai team in the mid-70s, the players of other Ranji Trophy teams used to come and watch Mumbai batsmen at the nets. Bombay won the Ranji Trophy for 15 years in a row and I applaud Ajit Wadekar for being part of that generation,” he said picking out the former India and Mumbai captain who was among the audience with Farokh Engineer, Umesh Kulkarni, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Paras Mhambrey, Abey Kuruvilla and Vinod Kambli.
The three verticals the EIC is looking at are (1) setting up a centre of excellence for all branches of the game, (2) international corporate cricket league and (3) cricket academies that will focus on training for Twenty20 format. The EIC also has plans to conduct local Heritage Tours.
