Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has appointed Ankeet Chavan, a former cricketer who was banned for life in 2013 for his involvement in the IPL spot-fixing scandal, as the head coach of its Under-14 team. This has raised eyebrows because of Chavan’s history with players like S. Sreesanth.
Chavan along with two other Rajasthan Royals players was first banned for life by the BCCI in 2013. Even though a Delhi court cleared the players in 2015 for lack of evidence, the BCCI kept the ban in place till 2021. At that time it was reduced to seven years and Chavan could start playing cricket two years ago.
Chavan told The Indian Express, I am excited for this second chance. I shared my plans for the new job.
Chavan said, This is a second chance for me and I am looking forward to it. There is always a way to come back in life. I want to thank the Mumbai Cricket Association for believing in me. I have always thought of coaching and I know there will be challenges. I want to work on the players’ basic skills at the Under-14 level so they can get better at the game.
After the ban Ankeet Chavan was active in cricket by playing for Mumbai’s Karnataka Sports Club and passed the BCCI’s Level-1 coaching test. Before the scandal he played 18 first-class matches, 20 List A matches and 13 IPL matches.
Read Also:- SRI Lanka achieves this unique feat as Bangladesh collapse in the first ODI.
MCA announced this new role along with other coaching and selection positions. Omkar Salvi will continue to be the head coach of the senior Ranji Trophy team. He was the head coach last season and is the bowling coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore. Sandeep Patil who played for India is still the chairman of the selection committee. Harshad Khadiwale is the new head coach of the Maharashtra senior team.
