MCA commits Rs 500 crore corpus for grassroots cricket development

By MagnetGuy

**MCA Goes Big: Rs 500 Cr Corpus Set Up for Grassroots Cricket** Mumbai Cricket Association just made a serious move. At its AGM at Wankhede on Sept 11, president Ajinkya Naik announced a Rs 500 crore corpus fund for grassroots cricket — a massive jump from the Rs 100 cr they put in last year. Here's the smart part of the structure: the principal stays intact. It's parked in an FD, and only the interest gets distributed to affiliated clubs. Maidan, school, and college clubs can use the payouts for kits, equipment, facilities, or logistics. Think of it as an endowment — recurring income without eating into the corpus. Clever capital allocation. **What makes this worth a look:** smaller maidan clubs get the same spending autonomy as the bigger school/college outfits. That's a real level-playing-field play at the foundation level. **Other AGM business:** - Three Wankhede lounges to be named after Sachin Tendulkar, Madhav Mantri, and Ajinkya Rahane. A committee (Awhad, Narvekar, Nikam) tasked with finalising spaces. - Statue of Dilip Vengsarkar going up at the complex — honouring Mumbai cricket's heritage. - On the National Sports Governance Act 2025, MCA's staying with the BCCI's call. Not diving into it themselves. Bottom line: this is a long-term bet on the talent pipeline, structured to compound. If the distribution mechanism actually reaches the grassroots clubs efficiently, Mumbai's next generation of cricketers has a solid funding backstop. Source: Crictracker