Facebook quiz helps former Mumbai cricketer claim his MCA pension

Ever wondered that a Facebook contest can help someone win his pension? Well, that’s what has happened with Vilas Godbole, who has won his MCA pension, thanks to a Facebook quiz! The 76-year-old former Mumbai cricketer did not know that a solo match he played for Bombay qualified him as first-class cricketer and that makes him eligible for Mumbai Cricket Association’s pension.

According to a report in Mid Day, a weekly Facebook quiz by its sports editor helped Godbole earn his MCA pension. The quiz had asked the users to identify three out of four Indian first-class cricketers from a group of photograph of the 1980 MCA managing committee that was leading the association’s golden jubilee celebrations.

The picture had Polly Umrigar, Naren Tamhane, Sharad Diwadkar and Vilas Godbole. Five winners replied with the names of all the four players and twelve others identified three players. And that was enough for Godbole’s sons Kedar and Kaushik to tell him about the quiz on November 10, 2017 and how he should consider himself a first-class cricketer.

Godbole played a solitary match for Bombay against Ceylon at the Brabourne stadium in 1965, making him qualify as a first-class cricketer. However, he did not represent the side in the Ranji Trophy. Cricket consultant Makarand Waingankar (PhD in Mumbai cricket) encouraged Godbole to write to the BCCI for a first-class endorsement.

Answering to Godbole’s query, the BCCI’s statistician Dinar Gupte confirmed that the January 8-10, 1965 game, which saw him hit the first ball he faced for a six, was a first-class fixture. He scored 15 in his only innings of the game. "I never considered myself a first-class cricketer. I was thrilled when the BCCI confirmed that I am a first-class player because I missed out on a chance to play the Ranji Trophy for Bombay. I was in the reserves for three games. It was very difficult to get into that Bombay side," said Godbole.

In January this year, he sent a letter to MCA considering him for the MCA’s monthly pension scheme with retrospective effect. The association agreed to his request but nothing was mentioned about the arrears. Last week, Godbole received pension amounts for the first five years of this year.

Now, Godbole has sought an appointment with retired SC judge Hemant Gokhale, one of the two judges appointed by the Bombay High Court to run the MCA till it conducts its elections as per reforms charted by the Lodha panel, to talk about the possibility to receive his arrears. Well, what an amazing story this has been for a player, who thought that he wasn’t a first-class cricketer.