21 March,2009 10:07 AM IST | | A Correspondent
EVER since its inception in 1948, the Dr HD Kanga League has become a very important fixture in the Mumbai cricket calendar. Even Test cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar came out to play the tournament hours after landing from an overseas tour. But in the last decade or so, international cricketers have gone missing and the general excitement before the start of the tournament has also been found wanting.
"It's true the excitement revolving around the Kanga League has gone down," Madhav Apte, who played in the inaugural Kanga League said at a function to felicitate the winners and outstanding performers of last year's edition.
"In the past, there were very few tournaments and hence every tournament was important," said Apte.
However, Apte, who last played the Kanga League in 2002, believes that the importance of the tournament in building the basics of every cricketer has not changed. "I feel the tournament is still just as important as it was earlier when it comes to instilling the basics of techniques in a cricketer. Not many other tournaments can help a cricketer develop as the Kanga League can. In that sense, I feel its importance has still not diminished even one bit. Cricketers who play the tournament regularly will always have their basics in place and that will help them immensely in the future," Apte said.
