Coach Chandrakant Pandit, the chief craftsman of Madhya Pradesh’s maiden Ranji title, says his team played a “gamble” of fielding four bowlers against Mumbai in the final and eventually won the trophy. There was a difference of opinion between him and team captain Aditya Srivastava regarding this, which was resolved by former India selector Sanjay Jagdale.
In the Mumbai team, where Yashasvi Jaiswal was adorned with players like Prithvi Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan and Dhawal Kulkarni. At the same time, there were no players like Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan and Kuldeep Sen in the team of MP. Even after this, the king of domestic cricket, who won the Ranji Trophy title 41 times, defeated Mumbai.
Pandit was addressing the grand reception of the winning team by Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) at Holkar Stadium in Indore on Monday night. The Aditya Srivastava-led team stunned 41-time Ranji champions Mumbai in this biggest match of domestic cricket on Sunday at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and won their first Ranji title after a long gap of six and a half decades since the formation of Madhya Pradesh. Named.
Recalling the grim moments of the Ranji final, Pandit said, “I myself was in a dilemma regarding the number of bowlers in my team before the final. Concerned captain Srivastava told me that he would not be able to handle the match with only four bowlers and I would have to give him another fast bowler. did.
He told, “Jagdale told me that if my heart tells me to field a team with four bowlers in the final, then I should go ahead with the same plan.” Pandit said, “We decided to accept the challenge. We will play the final with only four bowlers because if Mumbai’s team is equipped with good batsmen, then in response we have good batsmen too. We played a gamble. God has given us his blessings.”
He said that five important players like Venkatesh Iyer, Aavesh Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Puneet Date and Ishwar Pandey were not part of the Ranji final playing Madhya Pradesh team due to different reasons, yet other “commando” players of the team played in the Ranji Trophy. Completed the mission to win the title brilliantly.
The coach also told that before the Ranji tournament, the team of Madhya Pradesh had made long preparations. “We conducted a total of 400 days of training camps during the last two seasons with potential players and subsequently selected team members. MPCA office bearers gave me complete freedom to work and all possible support.
MPCA President Abhilash Khandekar, patting the team that won the state’s first Ranji title, said, “Coach Pandit told me after our team won the title that every MPCA document related to the preparations for the Ranji tournament is covered on the cover of Ranji Trophy. The picture was printed so that every member of the team is encouraged and contributed 100 percent towards achieving this goal.
Khandekar said that the appointment of Pandit as the coach of Madhya Pradesh in the year 2020 was opposed by some MPCA people for different reasons, but the MPCA’s eyes were on the target of becoming a Ranji winner, so it was decided whether Whatever happens, this responsibility will be carried out by the pundits. The MPCA President, apparently happy with the first Ranji title, said, “The wonderful result of choosing Pandit as the coach is in front of us today.”