Pandit, coach with the magic whip

There are few coaches in the Indian domestic circuit who can work their magic like Chandrakant Pandit. An extremely hard taskmaster who literally cracks the whip on erring players, he has the uncanny knack of getting mid-level teams to punch way above their weight. So much so that he even turns them into champions.

He first accomplished it with Vidarbha, turning a no-good ramshackle outfit into two-time Ranji Trophy (2017-18, 2018-19) winners. Until then, Vidarbha were just one of the teams who made up the numbers in the country’s premier first-class tournament. Although players feared Pandit, like students would of a no-nonsense principal or professor, they revered him for changing their careers and making them national sporting headlines. They looked at him like a father figure.

Now, Pandit has done the same with Madhya Pradesh. While a handful of MP players now are a regular feature in the IPL, thanks to the immense effort put in by their association over the last decade in setting up a brilliant programme, they still were ‘minnows’ in Ranji Trophy. Now, they are the newly-minted Ranji Trophy champions, slaying none other than 41-time champions Mumbai in the final.

Also read: Madhya Pradesh create history with maiden Ranji triumph, beat Mumbai by six wickets

The fact that Pandit was the brain behind giving them the confidence and belief was visible when the players converged around him after victory and hoisted him on their shoulders. Even during general conversations, their admiration and respect for the 60-year-old is unmissable. “Chandu sir did this, Chandu sir did that, ask Chandu sir….” is what they say when about their coach.

“He is a person at work always, literally,” said Madhya Pradesh skipper Aditya Shrivastava after the final. “Any given time of day or night, if any of the boys need any help or any information about the game, he’s always ready to help. We have been to achieve all this because of Chandu sir. His inputs, his talks has been phenomenal.”

When asked how he’s able to turn mid-level teams into champions constantly, the six-time Ranji Trophy winning coach said he holds no special wand and lauded the players and administrations for buying into his philosophy. “Honestly speaking, I don’t know much about it. People have been asking me for many years ‘What is your secret of your success?’ There’s no secret. I’m a great believer of God. I also respect the game and never felt I’m above the game.

“I also followed the methods of my guru, the late Ramakant Achrekar sir. Another of my guru, when I started playing for Mafatlal, the late Ashok Mankad. To some extent, Polly Umrigar. These are the people who have shown me the method of coaching. More than that I always try to fulfil the requirement of the game. Everybody has a commitment and passion, but one needs to fulfil the demands of the game.

“That could be one of the reasons behind my success. However, I would like to say I’m not extremely successful like people keep saying. I always feel the job is challenging with a team when you don’t have too many top or international players. There’s very less pressure as well.”

The win against Mumbai on Sunday was also redemption for Pandit as 23 years ago in the 1998-99 final against Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh suffered an implosion in the final session to suffer heart-breaking defeat. It hurt so badly, Pandit was in a pool of tears. Pandit admitted that among his six Ranji wins as a coach, this was the most satisfying.

“Every trophy gives you satisfaction but this is little special because 23 years back I wasn’t able to accomplish it as a captain. Today, I’m very proud of Aditya for what he has done. I always felt I had left something back and had to give it back to Madhya Pradesh. That was one of the reason why I was excited and emotional about getting the Ranji Trophy.”