MUMBAI: India women’s cricket squad head coach Amol Muzumdar appealed to young cricketers to respect the game, embrace failure and put the squad first at the Times Cricket Shield prize distribution function at the MCA Lounge, Wankhede Stadium, on Friday.Recalling his early days in Mumbai cricket, Muzumdar spoke about the advice he received from former India batter and 1983 World Cup winner Sandeep Patil when he made his Times Shield debut for Sungrace Mafatlal in 1993. The Times Award Shield was sponsored by The Times of India Cricket Shield’s celebration partner Heineken 0.0 (Mr. Vasant Bhandari) and Sterling Reserve Packaged Drinking Water. Incidentally, this is the 96th year of the Times Shield, which started in 1930.“Score 200. What’s the big deal about scoring 100? Everyone here scores hundreds. If you have the guts, score a double hundred, then I’ll accept it,” Patil had told him. The words motivated the then 18-year-old, but his debut innings concluded at 97. “As I was walking back, the captain was sitting in front of me. He gave me a smirk. That was my baptism of fire in Mumbai cricket,” Muzumdar recalled.Three months later, he scored a then world-record 260 on his firstclass debut for Mumbai against Haryana in a Ranji Trophy pre-quarterfinal in Feb 1994.Muzumdar, who went on to captain Mumbai and score 11,167 runs in 171 first-class matches, provided three lessons to young people.“Respect the game. That is the most important thing. The game will respect you back multifold,” he said.He also appealed to athletes not to fear failure. “Failures are part of every cricketer’s life, it’s only a question of how you respond,” he said.Highlighting the importance of the Times Shield in Mumbai cricket, Muzumdar said, “The Times Shield has been an integral part of Mumbai cricket. But I can tell you one thing: It was an absolute privilege to play in the Times Cricket Shield when I first started. It’s not just a tournament, but an institution. It is probably the livelihood of so many cricketers. It gave a platform, an encouragement to so many cricketers to display their talent.“It was just an honour to play in the Times Shield when I started and even when I finished in 2013.” Former India batter and BCCI Cricket Advisory Committee member Jatin Paranjape, the other chief guest, hailed the tournament’s role in strengthening Mumbai’s club cricket.Award winners:A Division: Champions: Bank of Baroda Sports Team. Runners-up: Nirlon Sports Club; Best Batter: Ayaz Ahmed Afzal Ahmed Khan; Best Bowler: Miraj Ahmed Khan; Fastscoring side: Mumbai Customs Sports Club.B Division: Champions: Indian Oil Corporation Ltd Sports Club. Runners-up: Western Railway Sports Association A. Best Batter: Kevin Gregory D’Almeida. Best Bowler: Shubham Ghanshyam Sharma. Fast-scoring squad: Indian Oil Corporation Ltd Sports Club.C Division: Champions: Chowgule Sports Club. Runners-up: Union Bank of India Sports Club. Best Batter: Krish Samir Singh. Best Bowler: Ashwin Anil Shelke. Fastscoring side: Union Bank of India Sports Club.D Division: Champions: Vihang Enterprises. Runners-up: Ajanta Pharma Ltd. Best Batter: Yatin Nana Madhavi. Best Bowler: Sandesh Chintamani Koli. Fast-scoring squad: Datamatics Global Services Ltd.E Division: Champions: Group Satellite Cricket Club. Runners-up: Thane Municipal Corporation. Best Batter: Utkarsh Hemant Raut. Best Bowler: Manas Mohan Chavan. Fast-scoring side: Group Satellite Cricket Club.F Division: Champions: Agribid Private Limited. Runners-up: Nimantran Snacks. Best Batter: Kunal Pradeep Kothavade. Best Bowler: Singh Suraj Vijay. Fast-scoring team: Agribid Private LimitedGet the newest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.