NAGPUR: Finally, it's confirmed.
Chandrakant Pandit will continue as the coach of the Vidarbha
Ranji Trophy team for the next year. Along with Pandit - hailed as the man behind Vidarbha's phenomenal rise in the domestic circuit -
Wasim Jaffer and Ganesh Satish too will continue to be in the Vidarbha fold.
Ever since Pandit's contract ended in March there were speculations about his future with VCA. Sources had told TOI that Pandit, citing stress, was initially reluctant to extend the offer. "Over the years various coaching assignments have kept him away from his family. Now, he wants to spend time with them," the source had told TOI.
In the end,
Prashant Vaidya
, who was behind Pandit's arrival in Vidarbha in 2017, played a key role in convincing the celebrated coach to continue with the reigning Ranji Trophy and
Irani Cup
champions.
"The love and respect that he got from the players and the association officials made Pandit continue with Vidarbha. Since last few days VCA president Anand Jaiswal and vice president Vaidya were in constant touch with Pandit. Their efforts in convincing the celebrated coach to continue with Vidarbha bore fruit," a source said here on Friday.
"Over the last two seasons Pandit had developed a bond, a unique chemistry with all the players. When his contract ended in March, he was in dilemma. The decision to leave the team that he had painstakingly built over the last two seasons wasn't an easy one. But he had a family to look after. His brother's poor health was also an issue. Fortunately, things have been sorted out. He is the best man to take the Vidarbha team to even greater heights in future," another source added.
Sources told that Pandit will arrive in city in May end. The preparatory camp for the next season will begin from June. Under Pandit the pre-season preparatory camps had assumed lot of significance.
Ever since Pandit took over as the coach, Vidarbha had clinched the two Ranji Trophy as well as Irani Cup twice in as many years. The players had confided that the pre-season camps had played a big role in the team achieving historic success in the last two seasons.
VCA's executive committee also confirmed the appointments of Trevor Gonslaves, Usman Ghani and Ranjit Paradkar as Under-23, Under-19 and Under-16 coaches respectively for the next season.
Vidarbha teams had an excellent last season. The Under-19 team won the
Vinoo Mankad One-day Trophy, while finishing up runners-up in the Cooch Behar Trophy. Vidarbha had also won their maiden Cooch Behar title under Ghani in the 2017-18.
Gonsalves, who had taken over from Sudhir Wankhede last year, guided Under-23 team to title victory in the One-day competition. The former Vidarbha allrounder also helped the team to reach Col CK Nayudu semifinal, where they lost to runners-up Bengal after taking innings.
Paradkar, who had guided Under-16 team to title victory in 2016-17, had decent last two seasons. The team didn't qualify for the knock-outs but several boys developed well under him. Last season, Vidarbha lost some close matches. The result of at least two matches could have gone either way. "We are satisfied with the kind of effort he is taking to help Under-16 boys. There's no point chopping and changing the system too much," a VCA source said.
The executive committee also approved the appointment of Wasim Jaffer and Ganesh Satish as professional players for the coming season. "They have been compensated suitably," the source added.
The committee also approved appointment of support staff for its various teams. The committee also praised the performance of coaches, players and support staff.
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