Dilip Vengsarkar criticises the MCA after Wasim Jaffer’s appointment as Uttarakhand’s head coach

Earlier this week, Wasim Jaffer, who retired from all forms of cricket in March, was appointed as the head coach of Uttarakhand in domestic cricket. Back in 2015, Jaffer, 42, moved to Vidarbha after playing for Mumbai since his young days. After he went to Uttarakhand, former Indian cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar has lashed out at the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).

Even as most of the states have appointed their support staff for the upcoming season, the MCA is yet to even form the Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC). Jaffer, the leading run-scorer in the history of Ranji Trophy, said that he wouldn’t have dismissed the chance of coaching Mumbai.

“If they had approached me, I’d have thought about it. I’m not saying I would have taken it 100%, but I would have liked to do it. However, I’d have wanted some say in the selection also,” Jaffer had said. “If they had given me some authority, I’d have loved to coach my home team first. Who doesn’t want to coach Mumbai? Probably, they had someone else in mind, which I understand,” he added.

MCA losing out on opportunities: Dilip Vengsarkar  

Vengsarkar, the 1983 World Cup-winning member, didn’t mince any words in saying that the MCA has lost some great chances to rope in some of the best in the business. As per the veteran, the board should pull up its socks at the earliest.

“It’s time the Apex council of MCA wakes up from its deep slumber and appoints the various cricketing committees before it’s too late,” Vengsarkar was quoted as saying to the Times of India (TOI).

“As things stand, MCA has already lost the golden opportunities to connect with the likes of Chandrakant Pandit and Wasim Jaffer who have already been snapped up and would be coaching Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand respectively,” he added.

Vengsarkar has previously served as the MCA’s vice-president for close to 15 years and hence he’s pretty aware of the needs. Mumbai is the most successful team in India’s domestic cricket, having won the Ranji 41 times. But in the last four years, they had their won sets of troubles. Last time around, they couldn’t even make the quarter-final.