If I call any IPL team I will get the job, but that's not my style: Chandrakant Pandit

Dubbed the "Sir Alex Ferguson" of Indian cricket, Chandrakant Pandit has opened up about his decision to stay away from the money-spinning Indian Premier League (IPL), despite winning as many as six Ranji Trophy titles in his coaching career.

Pandit's latest and sixth Ranji title win as a coach came when Madhya Pradesh beat 41-time winners Mumbai to claim their maiden Ranji title on Sunday (June 26 ) at Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The former MP captain was in-line to coach the Shahrukh Khan-owned franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, back in 2012. He even had talks with the actor-owner but refused to work under a foreign coach.

Speaking to the Hindustan Times, Pandit said, "I met Mr. Shah Rukh Khan back then, but somehow I couldn't bring myself to work under a foreign coach".

KKR appointed Australian Trevor Bayliss as head coach for the 2012 edition, winning their first IPL title under Gautam Gambhir's leadership the same year.

The pair of Gambhir and Bayliss went on to win their second IPL title for KKR in 2014, beating Kings XI Punjab in a close encounter at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

Pandit has suggested that he could easily venture into coaching an IPL side but does not want to make phone calls to people.

He said to PTI, "Agar phone karunga, toh kuch mil jayega par who mera style kabi thaa nahi (If I call (any IPL teams), I will get something but that's not my style)."

Prior to the win with Madhya Pradesh, Pandit had won three Ranji titles with Mumbai (2003,2004,2016) and two with Vidharbha (2018, 2019), respectively.

The wicket-keeper batter has played 5 Tests and 36 ODIs for India, including the famous tie against Australia in Chennai.

Winning the Ranji Trophy with the MP completes a full circle for Pandit, who missed out on the title in the 1998-99 final against Karnataka under his captaincy at the same venue.

With KKR looking for a head coach after Brendon McCullum's appointment as the England men's Test coach, Pandit could again be a front-runner for the role.