MCA to have counselling sessions for its players

Hiken Shah's suspension has put Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) once again in a spot of bother.

The 30-year-old batsman became the second Mumbai cricketer after Ankeet Chavan to be allegedly involved in a corruption case. Yesterday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended Shah with immediate effect for breaching the Board's anti-corruption code for participants. Chavan was chargesheeted in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal and banned for life by the BCCI.

Left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh was, however, given a clean chit in the IPL spot-fixing scandal after he reported to the BCCI an offer from his Rajasthan Royals teammate Ajit Chandila, who was also chargesheeted with Chavan, which he turned down.

MCA is now planning to hold counselling sessions for its teams. "The game is progressing at a rapid pace. There is a need to address cricketers and constantly remind them about the dos and don'ts. We may have counselling sessions for our players. This will be one of the ideas that will be put up before the Managing Committee. Other suggestions would also be discussed so that such incidents are not repeated," said MCA's Joint Honorary Secretary Dr Unmesh Khanvilkar yesterday.

Meanwhile, Shah's teammates were left shell-shocked by BCCI's decision. "He is a very committed cricketer. Never did he give an impression that he is interested anything other than cricket. This is hard to digest. We all have very high regards for Hiken as cricketer," said one of his teammates.