WATCH: Coach Chandrakant Pandit shed tears after MP beat Mumbai to win first-ever Ranji title

Legendary domestic coach Chandrakant Pandit has added another feather to his decorated cap who led Madhya Pradesh to their first-ever Ranji Trophy victory on Sunday. Madhya Pradesh beat 41-time champions Mumbai by 6 wickets on Day 5 of the final at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. When Rajat Patidar hit the winning runs, the cameras turned to an emotional Pandit, who stepped on the field with tears in his eyes and looked towards the sky.

 

 

Notably, this was Pandit’s sixth Ranni Trophy title as a coach. The former India wicketkeeper-batter, who had also represented Madhya Pradesh as a player, coached a side to their maiden first-class title for the second time. Previously, he was the head coach of Vidarbha when they won their maiden Ranji Trophy title in 2017/18.

 

 

Later, Pandit revealed in an on-field interview why he had become so emotional after the winning runs. Pandit was captain of Madhya Pradesh the last time they reached the Ranji Trophy final in the 1998/99 season, when they lost to a Karnataka team, failing to chase 247 on a day 5 pitch at the Chinnaswamy. Though he guided Mumbai and Vidarbha to titles as a coach, he had failed in his attempt to win the title for MP as a player and he had to live with that.

But it was in the 2020-21 season, that he got a chance to become the coach of Madhya Pradesh and finally win the title for the side as a coach. But the tournament could not take place because of COVID-19. However, in this season, his dream came true.

Life had come full circle for Pandit, as the stadium he left in tears years back was now the venue where the next generation of Madhya Pradesh cricket had won for Pandit the title that he could have won years back as a player for the same side. And, it was happy tears for him.

At the post-match, Pandit termed the win as emotional, saying, "It is a great memory that I had left 23 years back (he lost the Ranji Trophy final as MP captain in 1998-99) and it is a blessing that I come back here, and winning this trophy was fabulous. It is emotional because I missed out as captain on the same ground."

Highlighting his challenge-loving nature and his lengthy association with MP, he added, "There is no a particular reason but I look for a challenging job where the teams are not doing well, there also should be youngsters and to develop that particular state. I used to play for MP and played for them for six years, I knew the culture and when the offer came to me in March, I did not hesitate. There were a couple of offers but I chose MP because I had left something 23 years back and God willingly brought me back to the same state. Sometimes the talent is there but you need to develop the culture and whatever the game demands I try to inculcate them."

Coming to the match, Mumbai started day five at 113/2. With efforts from Suved Parkar (51), Sarfaraz Khan (45) and Prithvi Shaw, they reached 269/10, giving MP a target of 108 to win. MP did lose some wickets in their pursuit of 108, but won the game by six wickets with Patidar (30*) and skipper Shrivastava (1*) taking the team home.

Earlier batting first, Mumbai put up 374/10 on the board. Sarfaraz Khan (134), Yashasvi Jaiswal (78) and Prithvi Shaw (47) played crucial knocks for Mumbai. Pacer Gaurav Yadav was the star for MP with the ball, taking 4/106 while his pace partner Anubhav Agarwal took 3/81.

In the second innings of the match, Madhya Pradesh were absolutely dominant with the bat, putting on a massive 536/10 on the board and gaining a 162-run lead. Yash Dubey (133), Shubham Sharma (116) and Rajat Patidar (122) were the key stars for MP with their centuries.

Shams Mulani was the key bowler for Mumbai, taking 5/173 while medium-pacer Tushar Deshpande took 3/116.