Non-city Flavour

The entire MCA team, champions of the Cadence Trophy, comprises players from the districts
Suhrid Barua, Pune Mirror, February 24, 2009

The Cadence Trophy champions MCA have an ‘interesting’ look about their team. The 13-member squad doesn’t feature a single player from Pune. A peruse of the team’s roster is an eye-opener because the entire team is made up of players from districts like Aurangabad, Jalgaon, Latur, Jalna, Ratnagiri, Sawantwadi, Sangli and Nashik. "Our entire squad is made up of players from the districts. Our team management zeroed in on the best players from the districts and the title win is an indication of the talent the district players possess," said MCA team manager Sharad Belsare.
Belsare, who was part of the Maharashtra Ranji squad under the captaincy of Chandu Borde in the early seventies, though he never figured in the playing XI, feels the ‘sincerity’ and ‘dedication’ of the district players has to be seen to be believed. "These boys know that if they don’t perform, they will find it hard to stay in the selection reckoning and that is why they have the fierce drive to excel," Belsare explains.
But one couldn't resist the temptation of asking him whether it was a well laid-out strategy not to include city boys in the MCA team? "Nothing like that. As I said before, our team management picked the best from the districts. Also, the availability of the Pune boys was a factor as most of them turned out in this tournament for other teams like Deccan Gymkhana, PYC, Poona Club and Cadence," Belsare added.
MCA teamJagdish Jope (Jalgaon)Imran Pathan (Hingoli)Vikas Nirfal (Latur)Abhishek Rao (Nashik)Ajay Kale (Aurangabad)Summet Swami (Aurangabad)Prashant Kore (Sangli)Hrishikesh Kale (Jalna)Mayur Khaire (Ratnagiri)Piyush Sawant (Sawantwadi)Pranab Kale (Aurangabad)Ashish Deshmukh (Jalna)Aditya Shinde (Ratnagiri)