Chandrakant Pandit leaves Vidarbha, to coach MP in 2020-21 season

Former India player Chandrakant Pandit will be coaching Madhya Pradesh in the 2020-21 season. Pandit, touted to be one of the most successful coaches in Indian domestic cricket, has been coaching Vidarbha for the last three years.

He saw them register back-to-back triumphs in the Ranji Trophy and Irani Trophy in 2017-18 and 2018-19, having earlier achieved Ranji Trophy success with Mumbai too.

"I have coached Vidarbha for three years. Normally I always do my coaching stints for two years or three years. The idea is to always move forward. It's good to take a new challenge," Pandit told ESPNcricinfo.

"There is no doubt I was very happy with Vidarbha - the way the team has played, the way I got support from the association...So, it is not anything else, but just to move forward and take a new challenge. I was very happy with Vidarbha. I respect the support I received, and that will always be part of my life.

"I had played for MP for six years in the past. So, when they contacted, I accepted. Because I was not going to continue with Vidarbha. It was purely my call, nothing untoward (had happened)."

An official with the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association has confirmed that they have given Pandit a letter of intent to be the MP coach from next season. However, he has not been able to sign the contract formally yet due to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent nation-wide lockdown.

The 58-year-old, who represented India in 5 Tests and 36 ODIs, further acknowledged: "We'll have to wait till things improve definitely."