Mumbai: Coming down heavily on the tendency of certain India players whom he feels are more interested to play in the IPL these days than for Mumbai, former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar on Wednesday asked Mumbai chief selector Sanjay Patil to pick only those players who take pride in playing for Mumbai.“Last season, our top-order batters weren’t doing well. (Lower-order batters) Shardul Thakur and Tanush Kotian were rescuing us in almost all the games. I think there were a couple of Test players who were not interested in playing (for Mumbai). I told Sanjay (Patil, Mumbai chief selector): ‘Ask those who aren’t interested to play for Mumbai to go home. Take guys who take pride in performance, in winning matches and take pride in representing Mumbai.‘ Those who are not interested, those who feel that ‘I can probably play in the IPL’ Please don’t play for Mumbai,” Vengsarkar thundered, while speaking to all the Mumbai teams at the official launch of the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Cricketing Season 2025-26, at the MCA Sharad Pawar Indoor Cricket Academy and Recreation Centre, BKC.Present on the occasion were former India women’s team captain Diana Edulji (MCA’s women’s cricket advisor), ex-India pacer Raju Kulkarni (Cricket Improvement Committee chairman), MCA president Ajinkya Naik, all the Mumbai teams’ coaches and selectors, and Apex Council members.The 116-Test veteran, who is currently the MCA’s cricket advisor, also slammed another trend that he has noticed-that of batters going for big shots deliberately in Under-19 & Under-23 BCCI tournaments to impress IPL talent scouts. “I’ve seen that some of the Under-23 & Under-19 players, when they see IPL talent scouts at their matches, they try to play big shots and get out. That shouldn’t happen. It’s important that the player plays as per the requirements of the Mumbai team and as per the format of the game,” Vengsarkar pointed out.
Vengsarkar urged the youngsters to avoid social media while playing matches and “take pride” in playing for Mumbai rather than only bothering about the IPL. “Everybody thinks that the IPL is the only thing, the right platform to show your talent. See, the important thing is that you are playing for Mumbai. You are expected to do well for Mumbai. Take pride in winning matches for Mumbai. It’s very, very important. Keep social media, messages, phones aside for a while (during matches). Stay focused. Be passionate about your own performance and how you can win matches because when I was the selector, I used to see who would win the match from a difficult position. If we were, for example, 80 for five, and you need 300 runs. Who will win the match for me from there? This is precisely why I picked Virat Kohli when I was the India chief selector,” he said.
Poll
Should players prioritize representing Mumbai over playing in the IPL?
“You must look to win the semifinals and finals, the big games. You are all outstanding cricketers who have a bright future. You must stay focused and passionate about the game,” Vengsarkar concluded in his speech.Meanwhile, MCA president Ajinkya Naik advised Mumbai’s young cricketers to be more loyal to their clubs. “Unfortunately, there’s no concept of club loyalty anymore, unlike the earlier times. Players think that they can play for Mumbai only if they represent clubs that belong to the top administrators or selectors in local cricket. However, you can’t play for Mumbai for a long time with that approach. You can only play for Mumbai on the basis of your performance. That’s the sole criteria. There’s no concept of friendship or favours here. You all have been picked for the various teams of Mumbai based on your performance. Loyalty is important. You should take pride in playing for your club and Mumbai and representing the MCA,” Naik asserted.
