Tendulkar, the League's ambassador, said at the launch of the second edition yesterday
A day after Sachin Tendulkar slammed the BCCI for maintaining that the conflict of interest charges against him come under the "tractable" category, the batting icon pulled out the praise brush for his home cricket body - the Mumbai Cricket Association - for giving the forthcoming T20 Mumbai League a fillip with the addition of two teams.
Tendulkar, the League's ambassador, said at the launch of the second edition yesterday: "MCA has done a very good job in adding two teams. There will be new faces, there's going to be challenges also. Whatever interactions I had with my friends who play club cricket, the players have started preparing differently, training differently and practising different shots."
Also read: Tendulkar to Ethics Officer: No tractable conflict, BCCI responsible for this current situation
A total of eight teams, including two new entrants (Eagle Thane Strikers and Aakash Tigers Mumbai Western Suburbs), will be drawn into two groups. Triumph Knights Mumbai North East, North Mumbai Panthers, SoBo SuperSonics, Shivaji Park Lions, NaMo Bandra Blasters and ARCS Andheri are the remaining six outfits who will do battle from May 14 to 26.
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Sunil Gavaskar, the T20 Mumbai League commissioner, urged the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) to organise the event before the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction to open up a possibility of several Mumbai players being picked by the IPL franchises. Former Mumbai and India captain Dilip Vengsarkar, the League's mentor, was confident that top performers in the Mumbai League will get picked up by IPL teams.
"One hundred and sixty players will be seen in action and it is a good opportunity for them. It is an outstanding platform as well because matches will be shown live on television," said Vengsarkar.
Also read: Sachin Tendulkar's conflict of interest row: Sources say, "Conflict rule anti-Indian"
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