Chandrakant Pandit, a superb batsman and useful gloveman in his prime made up for an international stop-start career by gaining considerable success at the first-class level as a coach.
With over two decades of trophy-winning experience, Pandit has proved time to time that his old-school methods of coaching will still remain viable.
“This was a personal choice. I’m also searching for fresh opportunities and different perspectives in the squad. It is making the job exciting. For three years I am deeply attached to a team so I have to step on. Eventually if necessary, I must serve the country”
Chandrakant Pandit’s Observation In Domestic Cricket:
Over the last decade, the intensity of rivalry has increased. Earlier, the distance between teams like Mumbai, Delhi, Karnataka or Punjab, and the others, was huge. There is nothing to pick from within the top 18 teams, or so. I want to provide credit to the Cricket Board of India (BCCI). Through offering enough funds to weaker associations, they have narrowed the void.
The young generation has been fully comfortable with outstanding services and direction. They bear no significant historical baggage. In the world, the attitude has shifted.
Over the last ten years, there have been quite a few different semi-finalists. Players realize it’s not far away if they have an exceptional season, a call-up to India ‘A’ or even the national team. Players now know that playing first-class cricket will make a successful future, which wasn’t the case earlier.
Pandit On Development Areas Of Cricket:
“We value domestic cricket. Young players, who want to grow their talents for Tests and match days should not be granted an immediate chance in the Indian Premier League (IPL). They seem to get picked to the Indian team with one or two successful IPL games, although others who have done well in domestic cricket for years lose out on it” said Pandit.
Adding further he said “There would be a clause where you shouldn’t be able to play IPL unless you play a total of two years of first-class cricket. Indian cricket can, therefore, be continued in both the longer and shorter forms. Performances on the Ranji Trophy will be as important as IPL cameos. These days, cricketers are thinking, ‘If I don’t play Ranji Trophy, it’s good, but I should play T20 because there are many who watch.”
For one particular cause, there is a neutral curator approach. Bad pitches do not generate successful cricketers and there should be more spending by organizations in this region. The BCCI will focus on strengthening the conditions for the partnerships. Only neutral curators can not render sporting wickets if you don’t offer proper soil. Guidelines should be issued by BCCI.
When It Comes To Balls, Certain Strong Forces Tend To Get Their Way:
In this situation, the toss will be abolished. The team who meets will call for what they intend to achieve. The day this begins to happen, every player is going to make positive suggestions and they’re going to realize it will backfire on them.
How Ranji Trophy Best Players Would Be Rewarded?
When the BCCI will hand over contracts from any squad to three-four winners, that would inspire us to do well in the Ranji Trophy. Any player must be conscious that there are such success bonuses attached. The competition will rise, and the pool will expand. That participant must aspire to be in the list of contracts.
“The most significant aspect of having a goal. You need proper works to manage the series, without thinking about the costs. If you are talking about resources, you are not going to get the right guy” said Pandit on the future of Cricket in India.
If or not outcomes will come is another matter, but the purpose and method will be right. The dream had been of Vidarbha. Within an organization, the right individual will operate the stage, and his dream should be passed on to others.
Adding on the needs of the present Cricket scenarios, Pandit said, “You need someone who has both zeal and dream. Vidarbha has Prashant Vaidya who spends a great deal of time helping teams out. If you have an individual like Vaidya in 39 state associations, you can see a noticeable change in Indian cricket. A freehand should be provided to people like Vaidya and Dilip Vengsarkar to operate because they know the best people for the right work.”
Pandit’s Observation On National Cricket:
“In Coaching, there are two aspects. One is developing the techniques and skills of the players and the other one is your focus on temperament, mental toughness, and tactical aspects. The BCCI and NCA should think about which area they want to focus on because if you change their technique the players get confused.“ said Pandit.
Coaching uniformity has been missing for sometimes now as coaches also have egoistic characteristics which have been hampering them from performing their duties.
Unfortunately, NCA has not been in function indefinitely. Every two years, you have new coaches and each has his own style of coaching. There were also unorthodox methods for the likes of Javed Miandad, MS Dhoni, Steve Smith, and Virender Sehwag, but they were phenomenally effective because they could withstand pressure scenarios.
In the last three-four years, Rahul Dravid has helped the Indian U-19 and India ‘A’ youths. Ideally, he, along with new BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly, is all set to make a difference in the NCA.
Chandrakant Pandit’s Career Statistics
- Directed Mumbai to consecutive Ranji Trophy titles in 2002-03 & 2003-04.
- Coached India U-19 team to victory over Australia in 2009.
- Coached India U-19 in 2010 ICC World Cup (the squad had included KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Jaidev Unadkat)
- Cricket Secretary, Rajasthan Cricket Association, from 2011 to 2012
- Led Mumbai to Ranji Trophy title.
- Guided Vidarbha to consecutive 2017-18 and 2018-19 Ranji and Irani Trophy wins.
