MUMBAI: Former India opener Lalchand Rajput will inaugurate the Padmakar Talim Shield — the first local cricket tournament of the 2021-2022 season- at the MIG Cricket Club on Saturday morning.
“I’ve been invited by Mumbai Cricket Association (Executive Secretary) CS Naik, Apex Council member Nadeem Memon and MIG CC chairman Sanjeev Patki to inaugurate the tournament. I’ll be glad to be present on the occasion,” the 59-year-old Rajput, who is currently coaching Zimbabwe, and was a coach of India’s inaugural T20 World Cup winning team in 2007, told TOI on Friday. Rajput was the chairman of the CIC till February this year, and has been an MCA secretary in the past.
The Talim Shield will be played in the T20 format this season, with colouted clothing and white balls. It will be the first local cricket tournament conducted by the MCA after the deadly second wave halted all cricket matches in the city.
In a move aimed to prepare the city’s cricketers for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy in November, the MCA, following a recommendation to this effect by its Cricket Improvement Committee, which is led by former India batsman Jatin Paranjape, has decided to play the Talim Shield in the T20 format.
The tournament, which traditionally has been a 45 overs-a-side affair, was played in the T20 format last season in March, too.
