Excellence in Cricket, an institution that will promote International Corporate Cricket League (ICCL), Centre of Excellence and Cricket academies guided by reputed coaches and Cricket Heritage of India was launched in grand style by Dilip Vengsarkar, former India captain and brand ambassador of EIC at the MIG Cricket Club in Bandra. He extended his best wishes for the novel initiative and also expressed the need to have advanced coaching for today’s cricketers.
Vengsarkar urged all those associated with Mumbai cricket to give their best and bring it back to its golden days. A unique calendar featuring caricatures of 12 cricketing legends of Mumbai drawn by Austin Coutinho was also unveiled at this event. A galaxy of test cricketers, administrators, coaches and cricket enthusiasts attended this mega launch. Mr Venkatesh Rao said, ” This will be the first-of-a- kind cricket league that will open the doors of the corporate world to young talented cricketers.”
Former India captain Ajit Wadekar, test cricketers Farookh Engineer, Umesh Kulkarni, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Lalchand Rajput, Vinod Kambli, Abey Kuruvilla, Paras Mhambrey, former Mumbai captain Milind Rege and renowned coach Vasu Paranjape were also present on this occasion. Robin Uthappa who has represented India in ODI’s and T-20’s shared his experiences of learning the game, balancing cricket with academics and stated that such initiatives will go a long way in grooming the enormous young talent in India. Venkatesh Rao and Makarand Waingankar of EIC shared their ideas and plans about the future path of Excellence in Cricket.