MCA Honours Ajinkya Rahane’s Illustrious Legacy With Scholarship Fund, Announces 2026-27 Player Contracts

Mumbai: The Mumbai Cricket Association on Thursday announced establishing a scholarship fund to recognise the career of former India and Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane, while finalising the list of players to be handed out contracts for the 2026-2027 season.

Rahane announced his retirement last month having led Mumbai for the last time in the 2024-2025 season, with the domestic giants winning their record-extending 42nd title in the Ranji Trophy under his leadership in the 2023-2024 season.

“The Apex Council approved the establishment of the Ajinkya Rahane Scholarship Fund, in recognition of the distinguished cricketing journey of Ajinkya Rahane — from Mumbai’s grassroots cricket to representing India and leading the Indian Test team,” the MCA said in a statement.

MCA said the fund has received a “valuable contribution” from former BCCI and ICC president Sharad Pawar.

MCA president Ajinkya Naik said, “The Ajinkya Rahane Scholarship Fund, with the valuable contribution of Hon’ble Sharad Pawar Saheb, will support grassroots cricketers and the development of our Maidans. We hope this initiative will provide young players with greater opportunities to pursue their dreams and strengthen the proud cricketing culture of Mumbai.” While the MCA had announced bringing in a contract system for its cricketers in April this year — being the first state association to do so — the governing body said it has finalised the list of players to be handed out the contracts for 2026-2027 season.

“The Apex Council approved and finalised the list of players to be included under the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Player Contract System, as recommended by the selectors,” the MCA said.

"The players have been categorised into Grade A, Grade B and Grade C, with an annual contract amount of Rs 12 lakh for Grade A, Rs 8 lakh for Grade B and Rs 6 lakh for Grade C.” It was earlier reported that the contracts would vary according to the experience of a player, and the number of formats a player has played or plays for Mumbai.

These contracts have been given only to those players who neither have represented India in the past two seasons, nor have been picked up by any team for a similar duration.

List of MCA contracted players: Men’s: Grade A: Siddhesh Lad, Shams Mulani Grade B: Mohit Awasthi, Aakash Anand, Hardik Tamore Grade C: Suved Parkar, Sairaj Patil, Himanshu Singh, Jay Jain, Sumeir Zaveri, Atharva Bhosle, Manan Bhat, Ayush Vartak Women’s: Grade A: Humaira Kazi, Vrushali Bhagat Grade B: Sanika Chalke Grade C: Prakashika Naik, Zeal D’Mello, Fatima Jaffer, Sadhvi Sanjay, Kashish Nirmal. 

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