Four members of India’s 2024 T20 World Cup winning team, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, were awarded honorary life membership by the MIG Cricket Club, where the great Sachin Tendulkar formerly trained. This was following a meeting of the club’s managing committee on Saturday.
Training regularly at MIG CC are Hardik, the vice-captain of the Indian squad during the competition, and his brother Krunal Pandya, who has also been granted a life membership by the club. Both have moved to Mumbai and reside in Bandra. In the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA in June, Hardik’s 11 wickets at 17.36 and 7.64 economy rate in eight matches, including the game-winning final over, and his 144 runs at 48.00 with a strike rate of 151.57, were crucial to India’s victory. Hardik also captained the Mumbai Indians in the Twenty24 Indian Premier League.
During the competition, Yadav amassed 199 runs at a pace of 28.42 in eight matches. In the championship match, he dismissed South Africa’s top batsman, David Miller, with a superb running catch at long off. Dube plays local cricket for MIG. He made 133 runs in eight matches at 22.16 in the T20 World Cup. Jaiswal did not play in the T20 World Cup, but earlier this year in an Indian Test series, he amassed over 700 runs against England.
The Indian cricketers KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane (who trains at MIG frequently), Prithvi Shaw, and the Pathan brothers, Irfan and Yusuf, Nilesh Kulkarni, and Subroto Banerjee—who is currently a national selector—as well as the former women’s cricketer Sulakshana Naik, who is currently a member of the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) and billiards player Kamal Chawla have also been granted honorary life membership in the MIG CC.
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All told, the well-known Bandra-based club—a major player in local cricket—awarded life memberships to up to 14 cricket players on Saturday (15 sportspersons). Tendulkar and Jemimah Rodrigues are current life members of MIG CC.
“MIG CC is delighted to announce that the club has granted honorary life membership to all the Indian cricket and billiards players. We are proud to extend this honorary life membership to our cricketing heroes. This prestigious recognition honours their dedication, achievements and contributions to the sport of cricket and billiards in India,” MIG general secretary Shrikant Shetty told TOI.
Shetty stated: “Proposed by cricket secretary Akshay Borkar and seconded by general secretary Shrikant Shetty, the proposal was approved by the club’s board of trustees and the managing committee, reflecting the commitment to celebrating the excellence and legacy of Indian cricket. As honorary members, these cricketers will enjoy access to the club’s state of the art facilities, participate in exclusive events and engage with the club’s vibrant community.”
“Their accomplishments have inspired millions, and we are honoured to welcome them to the MIG CC family. This initiative reaffirms our support for the sport and its champions,” said MIG cricket secretary Akshay Borkar.
“The honorary life memberships are intended to foster a closer connection between the club and the cricketing fraternity, providing a platform for interaction, mentorship, and the promotion of cricket at all levels. The club looks forward to hosting these distinguished athletes and celebrating their ongoing contributions to the game,” Shetty concluded in his statement.
