D Road awaits a new MCA chief

My first recollection of Sandeep Patil being at the Mumbai Cricket Association MCA office is of 35 years agoIt was in the Honorary Treasurer Sharad Kotnisrsquos cabin adjacent to where the then Honorary Secretaries Bapu Nadkarni and VilasGodbole satPatil was there to collect some tickets and his complimentary pass as an exTest player Despite Kotnis being the secretary of Shivaji Park Youngsters a club which Patil had been playing for since his youth he also represented Shivaji Park Gymkhana and Cricket Club of India he had to wait a while before his tickets were handed overAs a teenager then there to pick up a Duty Pass to man a books counter at the Wankhede Stadium the following day when defending champions India took on England in the 1987 World Cup semifinal I was surprised by the fact that an international player of Patilrsquos repute had to wait to get his tickets But then this was the World Cup and the chaos was meant to be differentWhat also struck me was that Patil had no qualms to play the waiting game with no place to sit despite his celebrity statusThe late Kotnis also a journalist was getting hotter in the head with every ticket request from all and sundryIn one of those Irsquomsofedup moments he threatened to head to the Wankhede Stadium turf and sit near the pitch so that no one could reach out to him there He could do it luckily he didnrsquot What would happen to all those ticket and pass seekersI was told to come back in the evening for my pass As I made my way back through the Garware Club House all set for another exasperating visit to the MCA office I saw former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd trooping in and uttering to someone ldquoNadkarnihellipoh yes I remember himrdquoPresumably Lloyd was there for his pass to be collected from Nadkarni whom he played against in his debut series in India during the 196667 seasonI recalled this day when I visited the Garware Club House last week Interestingly Patil was in the building to file his nomination for the Mumbai Cricket Associationrsquos presidentrsquos postWill he end up being only the second India Test player after Madhav Mantri to head the association is a milliondollar question Fellow cricketers did not get to see Ajit Wadekar and Dilip Vengsarkar at the top although they came very closeCricketers coming into the administrative fray is commendable More commendable is when they decide to stand for elections However positive they may sound the thought of losing creeps in inevitably But they put themselves to the test and thatrsquos not an easy thing to doHaving been Mumbairsquos chief selector Patil will know what needs to be done for city cricket to be back on top And by that I donrsquot mean only getting their name on the Ranji Trophy againInner strength emerges from a strong club structure and thatrsquos how Mumbai will produce quality players He thrived on this aspect of Mumbai cricket and made himself available for every club match like many of his city peers I have an October 1982 press clipping in front of me which is headlined lsquoSandeep Patil will play for CCI despite fracturersquo Patil had pulled out of the Duleep Trophy semifinal but decided to play the final round of the Kanga League as his team had a chance of winning the pennant Ultimately Dadar Union won the title as they beat MB UnionThe Times Shield seemed to be his favourite tournament in which he enjoyed title successes with Tata Sports Club Nirlon and SunGrace Mafatlal Keen competition has never been lost on Patil and he faces it even today as his group goes about convincing voters that hersquos the right man to take charge of the body that runs city cricketSeveral bowling attacks of Mumbairsquos Ranji Trophy opponents were taken to the cleaners by Patil and some of the innings he played deserved better team results Like the 145 he hit against Delhi in the 197879 Ranji Trophy semifinals at the Wankhede Stadium Mumbai were in the doldrums at 724 when Patil came in and put his head down to guide his team towards a revivalAlas for the hosts Delhirsquos first innings total of 359 couldnrsquot be surpassed with Mumbai ending up with 329 The batsman who had the next best score was Rahul Mankad with 29 scored after openers Sunil Gavaskar 0 and Dilip Vengsarkar 9 were back in the pavilion earlyThe next time he faced Delhi in the Ranji Trophy at the Wankhede Stadiummdashin 198384mdashhe ensured his efforts didnrsquot go in vain In the following season he had the privilege of being presented with the Ranji Trophy in the absence of skipper Gavaskar who was indisposed on the last day of the final against DelhiBack to Patilrsquos current ambitions I am presuming it would have taken a good level of convincing to get him to contest and now that hersquos committed hersquoll go all the way Hersquos professional proficient and passionate This is not to say others donrsquot possess these vital qualities but isnrsquot it high time a fourdecade streak be broken and a Test cricketer be given a go especially when the C in MCA needs more attentionmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper