MUMBAI: In May last year, when the Mumbai Cricket Association appointed Omkar Salvi as their head coach for the 2023-24 domestic season, not many were convinced about the decision. Historically, the Mumbai team, which includes a chunk of players who are either playing for India or pushing for a place in the Indian team, has been coached by either former internationals or domestic stalwarts, with their previous head coach, Amol Muzumdar, being a classic example. Salvi, on the other hand, has never played for Mumbai.
The brother of former India pacer Avishkar Salvi, all he had on his CV in terms of playing experience at this level was one First-Class match, for Railways in 2005. He had a fruitful stint as Mumbai's bowling coach, though, and worked under Chandrakant Pandit when Mumbai won their last Ranji Trophy title in the 2015-16 season. In fact, so popular was Salvi that a few years back, when Mumbai's players were asked who they preferred as their head coach, they gave Salvi's name. While he wasn't considered for the job then, the man bagged the post after adding more weight to his CV as the assistant bowling coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders. "When he learnt that he had been appointed as the Mumbai head coach, Salvi burst into tears," a person tracking Mumbai cricket's developments told TOI.
