Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association rejects criticism, extends Chandrakant Pandit's tenure as coach

MUMBAI: Reaffirming confidence in his coaching approach, despite recent vocal criticism from some cricketers, the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association has extended the contract of Chandrakant Pandit for an additional two seasons.

Pandit is also the coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

The Mumbaikar took over as MP’s coach in 2020.

Under him, the team won its maiden Ranji Trophy title in 2022 and reached the Ranji Trophy semifinals in the next two seasons. However, Pandit had been under heavy fire recently, with Punjab Kings’ in-form big-hitter Ashutosh Sharma, Namibian allrounder David Wiese and former MP and current Pondicherry pacer Gaurav Yadav speaking out against the former India wicketkeeper-turned noted coach’s ‘authoritarian and strict’ approach.

At the same time, KKR allrounder Andre Russell has praised he former India allrounder for doing an “amazing job” with KKR, while stressing that the players were happy with him.

Confirming the development, MPCA secretary Sanjeeva Rao told TOI from Indore: “Yes, all of us stakeholders at MPCA-the officebearers, senior members and our cricket committee felt that Pandit is the right person to continue in the same job, and that’s why we have hired him for two more seasons. Our cricket has benefited a lot since his arrival. Not only did we win the Ranji Trophy in 2022, but we also reached the semifinals of the under-23, finals of the under-16. Last season, 10 of our 12 teams reached the knockouts.”

Talking about Ashutosh’s scathing comments on Pandit, Rao, a former MP first-class player, said, “Ashutosh was brilliant for us at the Under-16 level. He had the makings of a great cricketer. We gave him enough chances, gave him a lot of matches to play, but he didn’t capitalise on them, and we had other options. He was batting in a carefree manner and was never worried about losing his wicket. That approach doesn’t work in four-day cricket. Even in the ODIs, he wasn’t an extraordinary performer for us. Good luck to him if he’s performing well now. We’re very happy for him.”