Don’t take the sport calmly and by no means contemplate your self larger than the sport: Chandrakant Pandit

It’s not for nothing that Chandrakant Pandit is taken into account one of many grasp tacticians in cricket. For the world, he’s a tough taskmaster, however Pandit’s traits lie in his understanding of the sport and sustaining a no-nonsense strategy.

The lengthy and illustrious profession as a top-level coach has taught him that the ‘my way or the highway’ strategy doesn’t work. Rather, you will need to hold calm and produce one of the best out of the gamers.

“I always believe that being the coach and the leader of the team, it’s important that I remain calm and cool. My emotions and reactions – both on and off the field – definitely have an effect on the players,” he tells  Sportstar.

While the gamers sweat it out within the center, Pandit, too, ensures that he performs his half by passing on the required inputs to the captain.

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Things have been no totally different on Monday morning. With Andhra simply ten runs away from reaching its first-ever Ranji Trophy semifinal, Madhya Pradesh wanted to choose up the final two wickets on the earliest. As issues toughened up, Mihir Hirwani may very well be seen coming into the sphere after virtually each over with a towel, a few water bottles and a few ‘very important messages from Chandu Sir’.

It was all a part of the plan. Those ‘important messages’ finally led to some change in bowling, and Madhya Pradesh claimed an exhilarating four-run win to achieve the Ranji Trophy semifinal for the third time in a row.

“I sent Mihir to tell the captain to bring back Anubhav (Agarwal) and that we should gamble with him. I also wanted to take a chance with (Kulwant) Khejroliya, and those clarity of thoughts also help the captain make decisions,” Pandit stated with a sheepish smile.

 Madhya Pradesh bowler Anubhav Agarwal together with his coach Chandrakant Pandit.
| Photo Credit:
 SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR / The Hindu

“If I keep my cool, then only can I start thinking about the game and analyse what could happen. It’s not that I know everything about it, but you keep learning every day and every session. That’s all we have learned in all these years…”

Pandit has loved phenomenal success during the last seven years – guiding Vidarbha to consecutive Ranji Trophy titles in 2018 and 2019, adopted by an Irani Cup win. He stored the momentum going with Madhya Pradesh, guiding the crew to a Ranji Trophy title in 2022. Though it misplaced within the semifinal in opposition to Bengal final 12 months, Madhya Pradesh seems decided to win the title this time.

It’s clearly not a simple job, however Pandit has his plans. “At certain times, I do get angry and upset, and at times, those actions often come as a motivation for the team. I know that there are certain characters who you need to pinch at a particular point of time and at times, give a pat on their back or even have lunch with them. Those things have worked,” says the MP coach.

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In the world of social media, Pandit is way from it. Following his personal fundamentals and strictness, he has been capable of not solely ship outcomes with groups, however has additionally motivated gamers. “I am the last person to take the game lightly, and I never allow anyone to be bigger than the game,” he says.

“So, I always try to maintain myself. I try to make the boys realise that no one should be above the game, and for that to happen, I need to be calm and cool because I play certain roles from the outside, and fortunately or unfortunately, the bowlers and the captains always look forward to those suggestions. They keep making those changes immediately,” Pandit says, including with a smile: “That’s how it has been so far…”