Renowned coach Chandrakant Pandit recently added another feat to his already shining CV by guiding Madhya Pradesh to their maiden Ranji Trophy title. The team defeated 41-time champions Mumbai in the summit clash and an emotional pundit was seen wiping away tears while celebrating with the team members.
News18 Caught for an exclusive chat with Pandit as he spoke candidly on a range of topics.
Excerpts:
You coached Mumbai and Vidarbha and got success; In fact won five national championship titles. Why did you move this particular career to Madhya Pradesh?
To be honest, after spending three years in Vidarbha, I was keen to take a break. But Sanjeev Rao (former MP player and now MPCA secretary) spoke to me about coaching MP Ranji Trophy team in March 2020. I played for MP for six years (44 matches) as captain. I thought of the support the state union has given me. I was well acquainted with the MP cricket culture that started from the days of Holkar.
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Many people like Madhavrao Scindia ji, Chandu Sarwate ji and Sanjay Jagdale ji supported me when I played for MP. So when Sanjeev Rao proposed, it took me a few days to think about it. I thought maybe God wants me to go back to Madhya Pradesh. I thought this would be a daunting task, and why not take it for granted? So knowing the cricket culture and the people there, I accepted Sanjeev Rao’s offer.
You touched the cricket culture in MP? If you can reveal some aspects of it?
See, Madhya Pradesh was earlier coached by Ashok Mankad and Sandeep Patil. So there was a lot of Mumbai cricket culture which was spread in MP Cricket. Mankad and Patil had learned a lot about Mumbai’s attitude and attitude towards the game in these parts. One could see it, could feel it.
Going back and forth we have to see the contribution of Col CK Nayudu and Syed Mushtaq Ali ji. All these factors made things a little easier for me. The players of MP already knew the style of coaching, the style of playing and the way of looking at the game and the ways of displaying the required attitude.
I will also remember a fact that when I captained the team, I got young players like JP Yadav, Syed Abbas Ali, Naman Ojha and Devendra Bundell. Players like Rajesh Chauhan, Narendra Hirwani and Amay Khurasia were already present. They were all talented and well developed players.
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I could see the mindset of these players by Mankad and Patil. I had to continue it as captain then. Although I was a little aloof, I was a little stiff and straightforward. It took some time to settle with the then players. We had reached the semi-finals and final in our previous association with Madhya Pradesh.
So what was lacking in Madhya Pradesh cricket, it could not go up to the level of producing a champion team and champion players?
Mumbai cricket culture has certain qualities – scoring big centuries and winning matches away from home. And also if Mumbai does not win the Ranji Trophy, it was said that the season has not been good. Maybe it was missing in MP cricket culture. Perhaps the players did not believe that they could reach the final and win. We came close to winning the title in the 1998-99 season.
So in this final I told them that if they want to be in the final, they should show against Mumbai. The mindset has changed, the apprehension or fear of not winning the final would have gone away. And someone will be able to see it in the years to come.
So what was the difference between Vidarbha and MP coaching?
Wasim Jaffer was there when I was with Vidarbha and that was a big advantage. Also there was Ganesh Satish, there was a lot of experience. Faiz Fazal was the only player I thought had a lot of talent. We had to work on others. We had to develop talent and achieved a lot in the process.
I am a bit aggressive, the language I use is a bit harsh. It is difficult for some players to accept my style even in Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh had quality players like Shubham Sharma, Yash Dubey and Rajat Patidar. Aditya Srivastava’s season was not particularly good, but he has done well. Also Ishwar Pandey.
My target now is to find players who can serve MP cricket for the next ten years, we have players for the next three to four years. So now I am not worried as a coach, we have got good players. The second major difference is the support of the MPCA, which is different from other associations. MPCA has accepted my method and coaching process without any hesitation.
You used the words “being aggressive and rude” with the team/players? Are they receptive and accept it?
I have to be harsh with words to hurt the egos of some players. There is no way to let them down, but to encourage them to put their best foot forward. For example, Kumar Karthikeya Singh (left-arm spinner) was probably a bit overconfident. Maybe a little accidental. So I really had to pump him in my Mumbai language.
How do you run practice sessions? How was the training and practice session of MP?
We practiced throughout the day (9.30 am to 4.30 pm) during the camps with lunch and tea breaks. This is for sure that they did what they would do in a match. and simulate match situations. And perhaps this is the reason why Shubham, Yash and Rajat used to play all day.
In the last two seasons we had 400 days of camp sessions. We finished a knock-out match in Bengaluru in two and a half days and immediately went to practice. That’s what coach Ramakant Achrekar sir has taught us.
This style of practice also helps in developing mental toughness. This is the reason why they managed to handle the final against Mumbai so well. Dressing up I could see Shubham and Yash showing Mumbai “Khadoos” attitude.
You had 21 players in Bengaluru, the number in the camps would have been higher?
The camps were not a special activity for Ranji Trophy players. It is a mix in all age groups including women. I have tried this format in Mumbai and Vidarbha as well. In total about 150 were drawn from the possible 6 or 7 teams. Senior MP team practiced with Senior Ranji Trophy team. This is to develop culture, confidence.
But before the start of the season, we set aside the practice session of the Ranji Trophy team. That’s how, as a youngster, I got the confidence to bat with Sunil Gavaskar. Akshat Raghuvanshi is an Under-19 player; When he was practicing with the senior team, I realized that he is good enough to play at a higher level. That’s how you can identify talent as well.
Perhaps it was easy to find talent in the batting department, but not so in the bowling department?
I have also asked Karthikeya to watch old videos of former left-arm spinners as a way to improve. Off-spinner Saransh Jain is not a regular member of the team. But we also follow a horses to course policy. We were confident that the June-July pitches here in Bengaluru would help the spinners. It was like summarizing that he is good enough to bowl in such conditions. We noticed his improvement from the quarter-finals. And after the semi-finals we decided to stick with him.
Aditya and I never thought that seamers, Anubhav Agarwal and Gaurav Yadav would have to bowl 42 overs on the first day. We didn’t want to give the same pace to the Mumbai batsmen while bowling to both the spinners. And last evening both Anubhav and Gaurav agreed to do whatever they wanted to do for the team.
Where does Kumar Karthikeya Singh stand in his peer group of left-arm spinners?
He is a stable bowler who has a lot of confidence in his ability. He keeps asking me if he can bowl one or two chinaman balls. I’ve never stopped him. He did this feat in the final. He may be overconfident and may even feel low. I think he fears me as much as his parents. There will hardly be anyone of his stature. Yes, he should be able to reach a higher level.
Did you have any idea that your team can win the Ranji Trophy final?
I thought so seeing him in the early days of the league, especially after the matches against Gujarat and Kerala, showed him the hunger to win. We discussed this, Mumbai went through all the situations and won the match and the final.
It was the toughest season as only one team qualified from each group of the league stage. We would have done this in a nine-team league as well. We had the confidence to outperform Punjab in the quarter-finals and win against Bengal in the semi-finals, to believe that we can win the finals.
What were the key elements that influenced your team before the start of the finals?
When both the teams line up, I told myself that both the teams do not have the experience of playing the finals (except Dhawal Kulkarni and Prithvi). I said this to encourage and energize the players of Madhya Pradesh.
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