Pandit, the coach with an iron hand and golden touch

NAGPUR: Vidarbha coach Chandrakant Pandit, the man credited with transforming Vidarbha into champions, revealed little about the process adopted to make his wards Ranji champions for the second year in a row.

What the former India stumper let on though was the stature he commands in the dressing room and the freedom given by the Vidarbha Cricket Association and the man in charge of its cricket, former India pacer Prashant Vaidya.

“I can even slap (skipper) Faiz Fazal,” he says as Faiz, seated next to him, nods in approval.

Pandit is known as a hard taskmaster and stickler for routines. He can be tough on even seasoned players as many in Mumbai found out. He was removed as Mumbai coach in 2017 despite having led them to two finals in a row, winning one. He has been in 12 Ranji finals.

“Sometimes, when we’d step out together on the field, people would ask if this is a school team. But when Australia would do it, people will call them a team with attitude. I have a different way of working. People often don’t like it. But if I have been called by the VCA to deliver, I have to.

“When I and Prashant met on August 7 last year, we discussed three types of players – those who just want to play, those who want to play for the team and those who want to play higher level of cricket. We made a plan based on that and started developing the team.”

“I got him here and if I got complaints, I wouldn’t interfere, because knowing his coaching methods -- I have known him, played with him -- I felt I had no right to object,” Vaidya said.

Pandit even chided spinner Aditya Sarwate for revealing the plan to the media after removing Cheteshwar Pujara on Day 2. “He wasn’t supposed to reveal. The pitch was different from Australia, but we laid a plan and credit to Sarwate and Faiz for executing it.

“This final is the most important (for me) because the players showed character. They now give other teams pressure.”