DISCARDED BY MUMBAI, PANDIT PROVES A POINT WITH VIDARBHA

KOLKATA: Chandrakant Pandit in domestic circles is known to be the “khadoos” Mumbaikar, who is not ready to bare his emotions but Rajneesh Gurbani’s eyes welled up when he saw the ecstatic Vidarbha coach after they beat Karnataka to reach maiden Ranji Trophy final.

Personally for former India stumper Pandit, it was also a statement to Mumbai Cricket Association, which removed him from coach’s post despite the team reaching finals last year. “I got quite emotional after getting the final wicket and saw Chandu sir’s reaction, tears came into my eyes. We have been following the same routine from the first match we played in the league stage against Punjab till today,” Gurbani said.

There was performance anxiety throughout the night before the final day as Gurbani could barely sleep. “I was quite nervous all throughout the night, first woke up at 12:30 thought it was 6 am, again I woke up at 4:30, couldn’t sleep any more, got up at 5 am and got ready within 6. We were determined to reach the finals this year after having lost in the quarter-finals twice,” said Gurbani.

There were two specific phases when Karnataka had partnerships going and he admitted that he was getting restless. “When I went to the ground, coach sir motivated me and calmed my nerves. On the field, when wickets were not coming, I was feeling a bit restless and then my captain, senior teammates and Chandu sir told me to calm down.”

When around 14 runs were left, Gurbani thought rather than worrying he will now wait for batsmen to make mistakes.

“Since wicket was not falling, I decided not to worry and left it to the batsmen to make a mistake.”

“The presence of Umesh Yadav was a big help for me and it was my dream to open the bowling with Umesh bhaiya. From one end, he was bowling fast and watching him bowl, I was feeling very relaxed. Umesh Yadav is my idol and he is my favourite fast bowler,” he said.