‘He is one of the best coaches of the country’: MPCA secretary heaps praise on Chandrakant Pandit

The Madhya Pradesh (MP) team reached the final of the 2022 edition of the Ranji Trophy after registering a 174-run victory over a strong Bengal team. It is the first time they have achieved this feat since the 1998/99 domestic season, wherein they lost to Karnataka under the leadership of Chandrakant Pandit at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. 

Interestingly, Pandit is serving as the head coach of the MP team since 2020 and has been given credit for the team’s brilliant performances in the ongoing season. Although the 60-year-old could feature in only 41 international matches, he has coached the Mumbai and Vidarbha team to title victories in the earlier editions of the Ranji Trophy. 

Sanjeev Rao, the secretary of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association has revealed the hard work done by Pandit to help the domestic teams perform well in their respective tournaments. 

Rao claims that the head coach has trained 150 players at a time for more than two years, and the results have been astounding. 

Along with the Ranji team reaching the finals, the Men’s U-25 team, U19 girls team, and Senior Women’s have delivered impressive performances as well. 

"He handled 150 players at a time. It was incessant training beginning at 9 in the morning and continuing till 6 in the evening. That continued for more than two years and the results are there for everyone to see.”

“The men's team (U-25) reached the quarterfinals of Colonel CK Nayudu Trophy, the U-19 girls finished as runners-up in the One-Day tournament while the senior women's team reached the knock-outs. 

“Now the senior team is in the Ranji final," Sanjeev Rao, secretary of MPCA told The New Indian Express.

Furthermore, Rao has revealed that Pandit never promised results, instead he stressed that hard work, dedication, and work ethics will help in getting better results for the team. 

"The first thing he told us is that he cannot guarantee results. Instead, he said that he can guarantee hard work, dedication and work ethic and the results will follow. He emphasised that results are the end products. To have them, you have to follow procedures and processes," added Rao, also a former MP cricketer.

The MP team reached 20 days ahead of their quarter-finals fixture against Punjab, while others reached just four-five days prior to their clash. They played practice matches against Karnataka and Jharkhand to prepare for the knock-outs. 

"Basically, we gave him whatever he needed. Given the changes he has brought in, I can say he is one of the best coaches the country has," Rao concluded.

MP will face Mumbai in the Finals of the Ranji Trophy 2022 at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, starting 22nd June (Wednesday).