Amol Muzumdar saves Mumbai team from being de-boarded, pays excess baggage charge at Muscat airport

Eight-time Ranji trophy champion with the Mumbai team, domestic cricket stalwart Amol Muzumdar saved his team from being embarrassed when they were under a threat of being deboarded from an Air India flight heading to Mumbai from Muscat owing to excess baggage.

Muzumdar, who bailed his team out of trouble innumerable times during his playing days, ensured to be their talisman off the field as he paid off 800 Riyal as excess bag charges to the airport authorities before the team was cleared to board the flight. Apart from Muzumdar, Arman Mallick, Mumbai’s team manager, advanced the remaining 200 Riyal.

“The MCA Apex Council has decided to reimburse both Muzumdar and Mallick,” a source in MCA told TOI on Thursday.

Mallick, in an email directed to MCA’s Apex Council, wrote: “Our team had excess baggage while on tour to Oman, but in Mumbai, Mr Satish Samant helped us to clear it without paying a single rupee. At the time of return, our team had the same problem of extra excess weight of 165kg. Ignoring our request, the Airport Air India Oman authority (showed the) guidelines to deboard the whole team from the flight,” TOI reported.

“Then I called CS Nayak (Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) Executive secretary) and Sanjay Naik (MCA secretary) for their help and advice. Both instructed me to pay the money (excess baggage charge) which was 1000 Omani riyal and board the flight. Since no one had such a big amount, Muzumdar withdrew 800 riyals, and I had 200 riyals. We paid the excess baggage amount. Therefore, it’s requested to look into the matter and do the needful.”

The Mumbai senior team lost the tree-match T20I series 1-2, although they ended up winning the ODIs 3-1.

Meanwhile, the MCA will award a sum of INR 2 lakhs to each Mumbai player of the Indian team and head coach Ravi Shastri for India’s historic Birder-Gavaskar Trophy triumph in Australia in 2020-21.

Furthermore, the MCA has decided to conduct TW3 tests for all Under-14 and Under-16 players who would be participating in any MCA registered tournament. “The validity of the TW3 tests should be two years. Each player will have to undergo the test after every two years,” it’s mentioned on the MCA website.