Nagpur, Feb 17 (IANS): The Nagpur city leg of Mumbai Indians' grassroots cricket initiative MI Junior 2020 commenced on Monday with the competition in Under-14 boys and U-16 Boys & Girls categories. MI Junior, launched in Mumbai alone last year, has added Nagpur and Pune to its competition in second year.

The Nagpur leg will see 56 teams compete through 95 matches across the 3 categories vying for top honours. The finals of the city leg will be held in the first week of March, winners of which, will qualify for the playoffs and subsequent finals scheduled in Mumbai from March 16.

The Nagpur leg of competition was inaugurated by Mumbai Indians Senior Talent Scout, Kiran More along with Prashant Vaidya, Vice-President, Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA).

An initiative conceptualised by Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani, the MI Junior tournament seeks to encourage sports as an integral part of the education system and bring in the spirit of sports amongst the younger generation.

Nita Ambani has been the flag bearer of promoting sports as part of the educational curriculum in India. As the Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, she has spearheaded various grassroots sports initiatives in the field of football, athletics, basketball and cricket across country, impacting over 21 million children.