Wankhede Stadium is one of three venues owned by the Mumbai Cricket Association
Nadim Memon, the Mumbai Cricket Association Apex Council member, has suggested hosting the entire Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament in Mumbai, saying in an email to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly that the city has enough grounds, hotels and other facilities to accommodate all the teams and matches.
“Mumbai should be given responsibility to organise the Mushtaq Ali Tournament,” he wrote. “Mumbai has six good quality stadiums ground with all facilities and good hotels. All cricketers/officials’ safety will be taken care, as per the BCCI guidelines.
“We need to think positive and arrange the tournament for the bread and butter of the upcoming cricketers.”
Players should be tested for Covid-19 upon their arrival in their respective hotels in Mumbai, and then again closer to the start of the tournament, he suggested. “Players will (should) not be allowed to go out or meet any outsiders, stay in hotel room with all facilities available. They should go to stadium in a fixed bus. Same thing will be followed with BCCI match officials of the tournament,” he wrote.
As things stand at the moment, the BCCI is looking at a severely curtailed domestic season with perhaps only the Ranji Trophy first-class tournament and the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy for the senior men. But no official communication from the subject has been made yet.
The MCA owns three grounds – Wankhede, Bandra-Kurla Complex and Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana. That aside, there is the DY Patil Stadium at Navi Mumbai and the Dadoji K Stadium in Thane, both on the outskirts of Mumbai, while Brabourne Stadium in the city is owned by Cricket Club of India.
For the record, Mumbai has been affected very seriously by the pandemic, with the case count closing in on one lakh.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo