Mumbai: Sunil Gavaskar Returns Unused Govt Plot After Three Decades

Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad too confirmed that Gavaskar has written a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in this regard.

Sunil Gavaskar (Picture Courtesy: AFP / Getty Images)

New Delhi: Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar has returned a government plot allotted to him 33 years ago in Mumbai to set up a cricket academy, an official from the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) said on Wednesday. Gavaskar has now returned the plot to the MHADA after eight-month-long deliberations and meetings with partners of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi in the state, the official told PTI in Mumbai.

Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad too confirmed that Gavaskar has written a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in this regard.

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Awhad said Gavaskar informed Thackeray that he could not set up a cricket academy on the Bandra plot given to him years ago.

“Sunil Gavaskar has returned the land to MHADA. He has written a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and me stating that he can’t develop the cricket academy as planned, so he is giving back the land,” he said.

Gavaskar had earlier approached the Chief Minister along with batting legend Sachin Tendulkar with a plan to develop the academy, but it did not materialise.

This development takes place as the Maharashtra Housing Minister had earlier last year expressed displeasure over Gavaskar not utilising the plot in suburban Bandra, where a cricket academy was proposed, even after 30 years of the allotment.

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The MHADA, which comes under Awhad’s ministry, had earlier requested Gavaskar to return the unused plot.

Earlier in 2019, the MHADA had sent a proposal to take back possession of the 21,348-square-foot plot that was allotted to Sunil Gavaskar Cricket Foundation Trust (SGCFT) in the late 1980s to set up an indoor cricket academy and terminate its agreement with the trust.