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MCA accepts Tendulkar's 14-a-side suggestion for school cricket

MCA has accepted Sachin Tendulkar's suggestion to have 14 players feature in a side at inter-school tournaments

Sachin Tendulkar thinks the new regulations could uplift the standard of schools' cricket  •  Getty Images

Sachin Tendulkar thinks the new regulations could uplift the standard of schools' cricket  •  Getty Images

The Mumbai Cricket Association has accepted Sachin Tendulkar's suggestion to have 14 players in a side at inter-school tournaments. While only 11 players will field at any point, the new rule allows for the players in the squad to be used for batting and bowling by way of rolling substitutions.
PV Shetty, the MCA joint-secretary, confirmed that Tendulkar's suggestion had been approved and would be implemented from the upcoming season starting with the Harris Shield on November 11. The new guidelines have also been accepted by the Mumbai Schools' Sports Association.
"The best batsmen among the 14 can be picked for 11," Nadeem Memon, MSSA's cricket secretary, told ESPNcricinfo. "For instance, you will see that sometimes there are three fast bowlers who may not be good batsmen, so you can have three batsmen to fill up those three slots while a team is batting. When you come to bowl you can pick the eleven best bowlers who can bowl out the opposition. So, there will be tough competition."
Tendulkar welcomed the move and said this would offer encouragement to many young cricketers. "Six more players will now get an opportunity in every game," he was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times. "If the boys are missing their school and leaving academics to play cricket then they should be either bowling or batting. Otherwise they would be wasting their time."
Tendulkar was also confident the new rule would help players lift their standards.. "A batsman will get a variety of bowlers to face," he said. "Similarly for a bowler, all his wickets would be of a proper batsman."
Incidentally, Rahul Dravid had made a similar suggestion to Tendulkar's at the MAK Pataudi memorial lecture last year. "When an XI is picked, there are four kids on the bench who have taken a day off from school to sit on the sidelines and do nothing," he said. "Our junior cricket needs to think of options - rolling substitutions like in football, or a rotational system in batting or bowling, where everyone is given a chance.
"Just as an example: maybe batsmen could retire after scoring a 50 (or a 30?) and return only after their side has lost 3 more wickets. Bowlers should be allowed to bowl a maximum of one-third the number of the total overs instead of one-fifth.