Indore, January 2: Chandrakant Pandit, the head coach of Vidarbha, was so sure of winning the Ranji Trophy that on the day of his appointment he asked the Vidarbha Cricket Association about the plans it had on utilising the winners' prize money.
Vidarbha won their maiden Ranji Trophy by beating Delhi by nine wickets at the Holkar Stadium here.
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Recalling the meeting, VCA vice-president Prashant Vaidya revealed that Pandit wanted to know what the association would do with the prize money.
Surprised, the VCA official had asked Pandit what prize money he was referring to. "'The one for the Ranji Trophy winners'," Pandit, a multiple-Ranji Trophy winning coach, told Vaidya.
"He was that confident," Vaidya said. "He had just been appointed as the coach and was already thinking of winning the trophy. That's when I thought Vidarbha is definitely going to have a good season. I then started believing that they really can win the title the day he (Pandit) came to Nagpur,"added Vaidya.
Coach Chandrakant Pandit relives the journey and gives an insight into Vidarbha's success in @Paytm #RanjiTrophy 2017-18 season - https://t.co/lBzYKbdXCP
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 1, 2018
Pandit has an enviable record as coach in first-class cricket. The former India player, as coach, has won the Ranji Trophy title thrice and has reached the final four times. The lone defeat, to Gujarat in last season's final, was enough for Mumbai to show him the door.
Mumbai's loss turned out to be Vidarbha's gain. Having been a part of so many of Mumbai's triumphant campaigns -- both as a player and coach, Pandit knew what it would take to win.
"I have always been thinking about the achievement. Everybody wants to win the title, but I think, this win will not only change the team, it will also have an impact on the youngsters. The players of 14 or 16 years can also raise their hands and say that I can win. That's the kind of culture I would be happy to achieve in Vidarbha," the 56-year-old Pandit said.
Wasim Jaffer reflects on Vidarbha's maiden @Paytm #RanjiTrophy victory and personally being part of nine #Finals - https://t.co/fjcTnHkYCp
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A hard taskmaster, Pandit has his own ways to operate and doesn't like interferences. "We have been following our routine and that's the best part, we have done. All credit goes to the players as they have put in the hard work. I am very happy with the way they have respected me, and the players have never ignored the system we have followed.
"That is one of the major things. The team is together, they have started enjoying the sessions. We stayed together all the time and there were certain kinds of activities in the team. That's a fantastic thing."
Pandit praised the support staff for helping him immensely in the endeavour. "When you don't do well, people say there is no unity in the side. That's not the case. Support staff is equally helping. Bowling coach Subroto Banerjee has been of great support.
Aditya Sarwate and Akshay Wadkar reflect on Vidarbha's win; speak about their role in Paytm #RanjiTrophy 2017-18 #Final #DELvVID - https://t.co/DFkvMslckd
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 2, 2018
"See the performance of fast bowlers -- especially (Rajneesh) Gurbani -- that has helped. Wasim Jaffer, Satish have been role models.
"Today, youngsters like (Akshay) Wadkar have performed because players like Faiz (Fazal) have passed on positive energy in the dressing room. We are grooming them also. We have been talking to Prashant regularly about team combination," he emphasised.
Pandit said some performances took him by surprise. "Look at Aditya Thakare. I was not too convinced initially but Prashant convinced me. I was thinking whether VCA will make or break him. But now the U-19 boy is now a part of history and he will always remember it," he said. ]
Making his first-class debut, Thakare, who is a stand-by in India's U-19 World Cup squad, picked up a wicket in the match's first over.