Ironical as may sound, in this cricket-loving country that has taken to the T20 format so well, not many know the name of the National T20 championship. It definitely is not the Indian Premier League.
Until last year, the two-tier National T20 championship for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy saw the Board’s affiliated units playing a league in their respective zones before the two best performing teams from each of the five zones moved to the knockout phase. But this event was pushed into the background with the growth of the IPL.
The Mushtaq Ali Trophy was a precursor to the IPL but most players chose to join the camps as per the directives of the franchisee.
As a result the standard of the event was never the same.
It was with some difficulty that some senior members of the Board had managed to save the tournament being scrapped.
On Friday, the Board decided to change the format but sadly, also do away with the name of the Trophy.
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was presented to the winner from the 2009-10 season till the 2015-16 season. Therefore, after seven seasons, Mushtaq Ali’s name will no longer be associated with this championship.
Mushtaq Ali, who played 11 Tests and scored 612 runs including two centuries, passed away at the age of 90 at Indore in June 2005.
His son Gulrez Ali and grandson Abbas Ali played first class cricket for Madhya Pradesh.
The board’s decision has obviously hurt the family. “If they cannot respect the memory of my father, they should also remove his playing records. I want to know whether the Board will also rename Vijay Merchant and Vijay Hazare Trophies?.”
Gulrez promised to take up the issue through the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association. “If such a move is true then I would appeal to the MPCA to intervene and save the tournament from being erased from Indian cricket,’ said a despondent Gulrez.
