Winning the Ranji Trophy for the very first time is a major effort, but what makes the Madhya Pradesh team's achievement even more telling is the effort put in by all the MP players, led by their own 'Alex Ferguson' — as called by Dinesh Karthik — in Chandrakant Pandit.
Pandit is a veteran of the game. He has won six Ranji Trophy titles as head coach, the latest being for Madhya Pradesh after beating 41-time champions Mumbai. The skipper of the winning team, Aditya Shrivastava shares a 'special bond, which goes beyond the professional coach-captain relationship.
Their bond is very solid. This can be articulated by the fact that before Shrivastava could get married last year, he came to ask for his coach's permission. The coach allowed a 'graceful' two-day off to complete the rituals and return to training.
"To reach the top, one has to make sacrifices. When Aditya was getting married last year, he came to me and asked what should be a good time and I told him that I can only release him for festivities for a period of two days," Pandit said, opening up about the stringent policies that have made him one of the most successful head coaches of the Ranji Trophy.
Despite this, Aditya harbours no ill will towards his head coach and even opened up about not being able to spend any time with his wife. "I got married last year but I haven't even taken a 10-day vacation with my wife," the young captain said.
"I told them for success, you need to put in long hours of hard work. It is like a mission," the coach quipped.
It was a momentous occasion for Pandit because it was at the same Chinnaswamy Stadium where he had lost a Ranji Trophy final against Karnataka as Madhya Pradesh captain 23 years ago.
"Every trophy gives satisfaction but this one is special. I couldn't do it as an MP captain years back (23 years). All these years, I have always felt that I had left something back over here. That's the reason I am a bit more excited and emotional about it," a visibly exhausted Pandit said after his latest Ranji Trophy triumph.
