Former international Prashant Vaidya, who looks after the cricket activities of the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA), is convinced the induction of Chandrakant Pandit into the coaching staff of the VCA team has been chiefly responsible for the Ranji Trophy triumph.
“I have been after Chandu since 2009 when the VCA founded the academy. But he was busy with Mumbai, Kerala and Rajasthan. An opportunity came our way this season and we signed him as head coach for two years,” said Vaidya.
“I have played with him and knew he had the ability to instil confidence in our team. He knew how a team should play a First Class match and win it. Winning the quarterfinals and semifinals was a massive confidence-booster. He made the players mentally tough,” added Vaidya.
Vaidya pointed out Vidarbha’s excellent run, saying “we won seven of the nine matches (four in the league and three in the knock-out). The team had a decent run in the last few years, reaching the quarters in 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. But Chandu coming in enabled the team to penetrate the barrier of winning knock-out matches after making it a habit of winning matches in the league.
“When he took charge, he looked at the record of the team and players. He is a taskmaster. He had one-on-one interaction with players, introduced fresh faces and brought in players who did well in limited-over matches. He made the players understand that they have the talent and can go beyond what they had achieved. He had gone through that practically and mentally and this virtue benefited the team.”
Pandit succeeded the likes of Sairaj Bahutule and Paras Mhambrey, who coached Vidarbha for two years each. “Paras and Sairaj all played their part. I became the vice-president when the VCA adopted the Justice Lodha reforms. Again I went after Chandu and got back Subroto Banerjee as the bowling coach. He has played a big role in the development of seamer Rajneesh Gurbani (39 wickets this season and 13 in the 2016-17 season).”
“The Ranji Trophy win is big. It will generate interest for the game in Vidarbha region,” said Vaidya.
