No nepotism in Mumbai selection: Sawant

The MCA organises a summer camp from which 32 boys are selected for off season training. Following that, there are selection trials in the form of CPCC and Worli Sports Club U-14 and Dilip Vengsarkar Academy tournaments.

These are the three selection trial tournaments for U-14 age group. Before these tournaments were doubled up as the selection trials, the Harris and Giles Shield tournaments were the only competitions for selecting boys to that age group. However, after a number of schools started participating in the Harris and Giles Shield without proper kits and teams, the tournaments lost its utility. Thereafter, these selection trial tournaments were started by choosing players from various centres, where there is proper and serious competition. Secondly, majority of good performances by the players who are said to be left out from the team are from the Plate group and preliminary rounds of the Giles Shield where there is no competition and the matches are one sided.

I have also verified and confirmed that all the selectors were present during those selection trials. The final selection was done on 9/1/2013. Players like Bhupen Lalwani, Pushkar Vashist, Satyalaksha Jain have scored in the preliminary rounds of the Giles Shield. These players were also called for trial matches and did not perform against the selected boys.

For example, Lalwani scored 398 against a team which had scores of 84 and nine runs for 7 wickets in second innings. In selection finals he scored only 46 and 2. Vashist scored 261 against a team which had a score of 38 and 20 for 2 whereas, in selection trials Vashist scored 32 and 46. Similar is the case with other centurions, who scored centuries in preliminary rounds of Giles Shield but could not perform in selection trials. A few boys like Y Jayaswal, Soab Khan, Rajesh Sardar who performed were called with age proof did not turn up for selection trials with necessary proof. So naturally, they were either over-aged or did not have required age proof.

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