T20 Mumbai League should be scheduled right before IPL auctions, says Sunil Gavaskar

“I do believe that the MCA must try and schedule this tournament just before the IPL auctions. I know that’s difficult to do because of the Ranji Trophy and the rest of the Indian domestic cricket season, but it’ll make a big difference if you schedule it before the auctions, because I don’t think the representation of Mumbai players in the IPL teams is adequate enough. I think we can have many more players up there. We all know that Mumbai has been the dominant team in domestic cricket over the years. Yes, we haven’t won the Ranji Trophy in the past few years but we have won it more than anybody else,” he said, reported Scroll.

Pace bowling all-rounder Shivam Dube was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 5 crores after his exploits in the Mumbai T20 League and Gavaskar singled out his case believing that more such talents will come out of the league.

Players like Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Siddhesh Lad and Shivam Dube will feature in the tournament this season, which will ensure a tough competition. Arjun Tendulkar has also come on board this year. Suryakumar led Triumph Knights Mumbai North East had won the previous edition but this time it won’t be easy this time as the number of teams will go up from six to eight. Sachin Tendulkar also among the ambassadors of the league, welcomed the move to add more teams.

“I know we talk about Mumbai not doing so well in the Ranji Trophy. I feel there is always room for improvement. We need to think differently and give a different dimension to the way we prepare. So it’s important not to have a short term vision but to have a long term plan. We need to figure out how to start dominating again. Having said that, I don’t think we’re down in the dumps at all. There have been occasions when we have made it to the semi-finals and finals,” signed off the 46-year-old.