With the organisers adding two new teams after the inaugural edition last year, the second edition of T20 Mumbai — which culminated on Sunday with Prithvi Shaw-led North Mumbai Panthers lifting the title — was certainly bigger. With the quality of cricket on display, one wasn’t sure whether it was better than the last time round.
Here’s a look at the three main talking points:
# Dropped catches
One of the sorry tales of last year’s tournament was poor catching. When it came to catching — dropping, in fact — skiers, nothing seems to have changed this time round. The coaches associated with all eight teams cited the fact that a majority of maidan cricketers who featured in the tournament are not used to playing at a proper stadium like the Wankhede, let alone fielding under lights, with dew making their job even more difficult.
No doubt all these factors do play a part. But neither the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) nor the team owners or the players themselves seem to have worked on any of these aspects. Perhaps it’s high time the MCA organises more floodlit tournaments to help local cricketers get acquainted with the big stage. Moreover, the fact that even the first-class regulars couldn’t hold on to catches consistently does raise a question mark over fielding standards in Mumbai.
# Gen-next captains
Despite winning the 50-over competition, the last domestic season was largely forgettable for Mumbai cricket. Captaincy was one of the main problems that surfaced during the season. In all three formats, Mumbai had multiple captains and hardly any of the half-a-dozen captains across formats could actually make a mark with their captaincy.
T20 Mumbai might just well have given more options to fill in the captaincy void. Prithvi Shaw, who led North Mumbai Panthers to the title, and Jay Bista, whose SoBo Supersonics featured in the thrilling final, showed more than enough glimpses of their tactical ability. Besides, neither of them got bogged down with the additional responsibility, scoring consistently with the willow. While Shaw emerged as the highest run-getter of the tournament, Bista — the only centurion in T20 Mumbai — finished just seven runs behind.
Perhaps the Mumbai selectors should take a punt and elevate either of the duo to the captaincy. The move may not reap rewards immediately but will work wonders in the long-run.
# Tendulkar Jr.
Participation of this young all-rounder attracted not just national, but global (at least on social media), attention to T20 Mumbai. His middle name aside, one isn’t convinced Arjun Tendulkar could justify the rich price tag he fetched during the player auction.
Contrasting fortunes: Arjun Tendulkar could not justify the rich price tag he fetched during the player auction 
The southpaw largely underperformed throughout the tournament. With the manner in which he was used by captain Dhawal Kulkarni — sometimes opening the bowling while at times being introduced in the attack only in the eighth or ninth over — one wasn’t sure about his role with the ball. It reflected in his stats as Tendulkar Jr. picked five wickets at almost nine runs an over.
His role was better defined with the willow as be batted in top-three in all six matches. However, 104 runs from six innings while opening the innings are far from making a top-order batsman smile, let alone the son of a legendary batsman. As for fielding, he still has a long way to go.
