New Delhi, Aug 14 : Abhilash Khandekar, the President of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA), said it has extended Chandrakant Pandit's tenure for the upcoming domestic cricket season. Pandit, the former India wicketkeeper, took over as the side's head coach in 2020 and led them to its first Ranji Trophy title in 2022.

Madhya Pradesh also reached the semifinals in the next two seasons of the Ranji Trophy. Pandit comes into this domestic season on the back of coaching Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 title in Chennai.

'Not only in Ranji Trophy but in domestic cricket, most of our teams have been faring well and they are generally in age groups of women and men also. They are qualifying for the semifinals. So, the thrust for me as the President was on creating the bench strength and therefore we have extended the contract period of Chandu Pandit, who was the KKR coach in the IPL.'

'He was with us for the last three-four years and we have again given him the responsibility so that it is not only about the Ranji team, which of course he is looking after but also other teams of age groups where he can coach them in a very specialized manner, so that for the next couple of years we should have good players,' Khandekar told IANS in an exclusive conversation.

Players like Rajat Patidar, Venkatesh Iyer, and Avesh Khan have been the players from Madhya Pradesh who got into the Indian men's team, while Pooja Vastrakar is a mainstay in the women's team.

Saransh Jain was a member of India 'A' team playing first-class games against England Lions in Ahmedabad earlier this year, while Soumya Tiwari was the vice-captain of India winning the 2023 Women's U19 T20 World Cup.

'A large number of players from Madhya Pradesh are now playing in IPL. They are also being picked up for Indian teams. So this is the result of the hard work in the last four to five years because overnight nothing happens.'

'The idea is also that we should also look after the junior players, and give proper attention to the senior group players, as well as age group teams in women and men - that is U23 and above, as well as under 19, under 14, under 16. So, generally, the upcoming domestic season is also looking quite positive,' added Khandekar.

Madhya Pradesh have sent its men's team for the upcoming Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament, starting on August 15, with batting stalwart Devendra Bundela taking up head coach duties.

In the last domestic season, Madhya Pradesh also won Women's Under-19 and Under-23 competitions, and Khandekar said things are looking optimistic for the state to do well in men's and women's domestic competitions in the upcoming domestic season.

'Buchi Babu is a curtain raiser kind of a thing and since we had won it (last year), as well as won the Ranji Trophy (previously), and U-19 plus U-23 women's tournament, you can see a large number of victories Madhya Pradesh has recorded in the domestic circuit.'

'I would like to give credit to the coaching system that we have evolved, and the intensive training that we are giving. A lot of money is being spent on coaching because creating and building a stadium is one thing, but then if you don't have talented players and if you don't spend on players, cricket will suffer.'

'So we are not allowing that and we are giving a lot of professional touch to the entire coaching system. We are hoping that it will be done in a better framework so that more and more talented players come to the national level,' he concluded.

/IANS