Pagnis, 42, under whose captaincy cricketing stalwarts like Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh played during the 1998 U-19 World Cup in South Africa, wants the Mumbai squad members to play as a team. Hosts Mumbai, placed in Elite Group E, will begin their Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy campaign v Delhi on January 11.

"It is very important to play and perform as a team. Everyone should enjoy each other's success. It is very important to back everyone even if we win or lose. It is important that senior players in the team back youngsters and encourage them to improve their performance," Pagnis told mid-day on Thursday.

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'Grab this opportunity'
Pagnis, who represented Mumbai and Railways, scoring 5,851 runs in 95 first-class games, said youngsters in the Mumbai team should grab this opportunity in the absence of seniors like Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma and Prithvi Shaw, who are Down Under for the Test series against Australia.

"It is also important for the youngsters to raise the bar by taking cue of the elite players' work ethic. It will help them individually as well as the Mumbai team," said Pagnis.

The new coach will meet the Salil Ankola-led senior selection committee to chalk out plans for the upcoming season. "It's like a reunion. Salil and me played for SunGrace Mafatlal together and we will be working together again. We Mumbaikars don't expect anything less than winning. I know this very well. It is challenging and I am ready," remarked Pagnis.

When asked about getting very little time for preparation, Pagnis, who was Mumbai U-23 coach when they ended up runners-up at the CK Nayudu Trophy in 2017-18, said he is optimistic of preparing well for the next challenge. "We have around 10 days [before the team assemble for the COVID-19 test on January 2] and we plan to utilise it properly by having match simulations and other practice sessions. If the current situation and protocol permit, we will try to have practice games too.

"Around 15 Mumbai players were with the IPL teams, either as players or net bowlers, so they were in that competitive environment and worked on their fitness. After the IPL, they were not practising together but doing it at the individual level. Now, we just need to bring them together as a team, provide them good match practice and have good team bonding," added Pagnis.

MCA AGM on December 27

Meanwhile, the MCA has informed its members that the association's 84th Annual General Meeting will be held on December 27 at the Wankhede Stadium.

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