Coach Pandit building on Achrekar’s legacy
MUMBAI: In his maiden appearance for Shardashram Vidyamandir, Chandrakant Pandit scored a triple hundred in a day against IES Pinto Villa High School before being dismissed off the final ball of the day. On returning to the team’s tent, instead of receiving a compliment, his school coach, the great Ramakant Achrekar, gave him a tight slap. Pandit, now one of the most celebrated coaches in domestic cricket, has not forgotten that slap. It remains one of his biggest cricketing lessons—a batsman can’t throw away his wicket at any cost. “I played a loose shot and got out. Sir slapped me and said: ‘I will not say anything if you get out for a duck to a good ball but throwing your wicket away is unacceptable’.”
Another cricketing lesson that Pandit never forgets is from a Harris Shield (Mumbai’s Under-16 inter-school tournament) final. “We were playing against Anjuman-I-Islam, and while going for a run my bat got stuck while grounding it and I took a painful blow on my knee. I went out and sat. At that time, sir had gone to his office (Bank) for some work. On return he asked me what happened? I told him I was hurt, he said: ‘nothing doing, you have to go in now and learn to play for your team’. He sent me back to bat without a runner even though that time a runner was allowed. He wanted his players to develop that toughness, mentally and physically,” says Pandit.
Dronacharya Achrekar passed away in 2019, but the players moulded by him are carrying forward his legacy. Pandit is a shining example. He is now the most successful coach in domestic cricket with six Ranji Trophy titles and four since 2015-16 (one with Mumbai, two with Vidarbha and one with Madhya Pradesh). He still follows Achrekar’s principles of maintaining discipline and showing unflinching courage.
Perhaps you can relate this to why a 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar stood up and refused to walk after being hit by a bouncer from Waqar Younis during his debut series in Pakistan. Walking off the field was never an option for the players coached by Achrekar.
Over time, Pandit has evolved as a coach, added to his skills, but the foundation is built on Achrekar sir’s lessons.
Pandit successfully instilled these qualities in the Madhya Pradesh players and the transformation is there to see. For the MP players, the pain barrier didn’t exist during their successful campaign. For Pandit, acts of courage by his MP players stood out. “Against Bengal, Shubham Sharma got a hit on the elbow. He was ready to bat because he knew that I wouldn’t accept that. Immediately, he told me in the dressing room I am going to bat. I told him: ‘you are not going out to bat, you are going to go and score runs’.
“In the final, in Mumbai’s second innings, pacer Gaurav Yadav fell awkwardly while going for a catch in the deep and jarred his shoulder and head. After that also he came and bowled a spell without telling me he was hurt. Later, Kuldeep Sen told me: ‘Aap ne joh bola hai ki tough rehna hai (you said we have to be tough players). Yadav is injured but didn’t tell you anything and he bowled since he knew it could hurt our chances’.”
Yadav, who took six wickets in the final, was admitted to the hospital after winning the title.
“I spoke to him this (Tuesday) afternoon and he said: ‘Sir, you don’t worry, I will be well, you have told us that we have to give all for the state’. I felt proud of him. We are not heartless, we are worried about his health and are careful. What I mean to tell you is that Achrekar sir’s method was not about trying to put the player down but trying to lift the player so that he can play with courage. Sir used to always develop mental toughness.”
From Achrekar’s stable
Apart from shaping the careers of the likes of Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Ajit Agarkar and Pravin Amre, Achrekar’s contribution to the game continues as so many of his players have successfully taken to coaching.
Pandit aside, even Mumbai coach Amol Muzumdar is Achrekar’s student. Other successful coaches are Lalchand Rajput (former Mumbai and current Zimbabwe coach, he was also India team’s cricket manager for the 2007 T20 World Cup), Amre (former Mumbai coach and Delhi Daredevils assistant coach), Paras Mhambrey (India bowling coach), Dinesh Lad (school coach of Rohit Sharma and Shardul Thakur), Balwinder Singh Sandhu (former Mumbai coach), Sameer Dighe (former Mumbai and current Tripura coach), Sulakshan Kulkarni (former Mumbai and Vidarbha coach) and Ramesh Powar (India women’s team coach).
Backing talent
Lad, who is producing a steady stream of cricketers, the latest being batter Suved Parkar, says, “If he saw talent in a cricketer, he would give more time to him. That is what I am following.”
For Pandit, the reason for Achrekar’s toughness on certain players was because he saw talent in them. Giving an example of how Achrekar sir backed talent, Pandit says: “I remember, we were playing at New Hind ground (Matunga), and Tendulkar was 12-13 at that time. We were thinking whether to play him as he was so young and whether he will be able to cope with a limited overs game? Sir said: ‘He is not going to be dropped. I am not bothered about winning or losing but he has to be in the team’. The message he gave to me was that you back the talent that you have observed.”
Achrekar served as a cricket coach on the Mumbai maidans for more than four decades until he was paralysed in the late 1990s.