Renowned cricket coach Chandrakant Pandit turned emotional when his team Madhya Pradesh won the maiden Ranji Trophy title on Sunday. Aditya Srivastava & Co beat 41-time champions Mumbai by 6 wickets in script history at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
This was Pandit’s sixth Ranji title as a coach. Under his guidance, Mumbai won the coveted trophy thrice, while Vidarbha won it twice in a row. However, the recent win in Bengaluru was the most special as he himself could not win as captain of Madhya Pradesh in 1998. The team lost the final to Karnataka by 98 runs.
Despite being such an influential coach in the Indian domestic circuit, Pandit never participated in the Indian Premier League (IPL). In a recent conversation with news agency PTI, he revealed why he has not decided to join the T20 league.
Read also | IND vs IRE, 2nd T20I Preview: Hardik Pandya’s squad India target clean sweep
,Agar phone karunga, toh kuch mil jayega par who mera style kabi thaa nahi (If any IPL is approached, I will get something but that is not my style),” he had told PTI.
Pandit reveals he met the principal owner of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Bollywood Shahrukh Khan Back in 2012. But he had his reasons for expressing his indifference.
He had said that day, “I met Mr. Shahrukh Khan then, but somehow I couldn’t get myself to work under a foreign coach.”
Pandit is above 60 years of age and will not be considered for any national team coaching assignment job. But Pandit has no objection.
“Every trophy gives satisfaction but this one is special. I couldn’t do that years ago (23 years) as an MP captain. Over the years, I have always felt that I have left something out here. That’s why I’m a little more excited and passionate about it.”
Pandit has experienced heartbreak as a player – his best Test innings of 39 runs came in the famous tie Test against Australia at Chepauk. Then, he’s well set at 24 World Cup semi-final vs England at Wankhede Stadium in 1987, but India lost the game.
Get all the latest updates cricket news, cricket pictures, cricket videos And cricket score Here