This won’t go out of fashion!

Ex-KKR player David Wiese bringing up coach Chandu Pandit’s ‘militant type’ reputation could also have something to do with the Mumbai man’s emphasis on turning up appropriately as a team

South Africa and Namibia all-rounder David Wiese made headlines recently when he spoke about Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Chandrakant Pandit being  “militant” in his coaching approach.

Militant is a strong word even for a tough coach like Pandit and one wonders what exactly the highly accomplished domestic coach enforced in his first year as an IPL coach in 2023 to throw up such an impression.

“He [Pandit] is known in India as a very militant type of coach. He is very strict, very disciplinarian that type of stuff. Sometimes in franchise cricket, when you have overseas guys who’ve played all over the world, they don’t need anyone coming and telling them how they need to behave, what they need to wear and what they need to do the whole time. So, that was tough,” Wiese was quoted as saying on the Hitman for Hire: A year in the life of a franchise cricketer podcast, recently.

What struck me in the above quote was the bit about Pandit presumably telling his overseas players how to turn up. It could well be that Pandit enforced something to do with attire or equipment. Doubtless, he is old school and was brought up in an era where seniors insisted on cricketers looking like cricketers i.e being neat and tidy.

Vijay Manjrekar was another Mumbai stalwart who was a stickler when it came to appearance and equipment. Dr Chandrakant Patankar, the former India and Mumbai wicketkeeper played a lot of his cricket under Manjrekar at Shivaji Park Gymkhana. Patankar told me recently how Manjrekar wouldn’t allow a player to be part of a match even if one of the spikes on the sole of his shoes was missing.

On the subject of spikes, Vijay Manjrekar’s son Sanjay revealed in his insightful book, Imperfect how as a child accompanying his famous father for matches, he would be fascinated by the sound of spikes as he watched cricketers return to the Shivaji Park Gymkhana pavilion.

Manjrekar Jr also observed his father’s obsession for proper gear. “Vijay Manjrekar was renowned in the cricketing circles for the way he took care of his cricket gear. They were like little idols of worship for him,” wrote Sanjay in his 2017 book.

Ian Chappell once said in an interview with Harsha Bhogle how his grandfather Vic Richardson, who led Australia, only told him a few things on the game of cricket. One of them was not to lead Australia like a Victorian if he ever got that job to captain his country, indicating he should be an aggressive captain. The other was, “always look like a good cricketer, dress like a good cricketer.”

Ian’s brother Greg elaborated on that advice in his biography written by Adrian McGregor, who quoted his subject as saying, “When Ian grew older, Vic gave him the odd piece of advice. The first was a trifle loaded: ‘If you can’t be a good cricketer at least dress like one.’ And then when Ian became the Australian vice-captain: ‘Just do me a favour. If you ever get to captain Australia, never captain it like a Victorian.’ He evidently thought them [Victorians] unadventurous. And finally: ‘Don’t believe that anything is new in cricket. It’s all been tried before. Field placings are like fashion. If you hang onto a suit long enough it will come back into favour.’ ”

Talking of fashion, ML Jaisimha, was as dapper as they come in flannels. Fans couldn’t take their eyes off him. In My Way — the biography of ML Jaisimha, authors A Joseph Antony and Jayanthi Jaisimha (the late cricketer’s wife) wrote: “His whites just had to be perfect and tailored just right for him. The ‘tights’ he wore had the acid-tongued AFS Talyarkhan [famous radio commentator] figuratively taking the flannels off Jai. It made little difference to Jai, who felt properly tailored tights enabled him to stoop to pick up and throw the ball with ease.”

One thing for sure, the dashing batsman, who passed away at the age of 60 in 1999 would have needed no instructions on how to dress for a game. Back to Pandit. He’d be well aware of the change in pitch as it were. Coaching an IPL team would be different from guiding Ranji Trophy teams. In fact, it could well be chalk and cheese. But the emphasis on discipline would be a constant.

Nishit Shetty, the former Mumbai batsman, told me on Tuesday that Pandit won’t compromise on discipline and procedure. “I have played under Chandu for Mahindra and Mumbai. It took me very little time to realise that this guy is high on discipline and it sure helps a young player. In domestic cricket, when we travelled with the Mumbai team, we all had to be dressed in the same attire. He used to impose fines for breaches and the money collected was either spent on a get-together or a reward for a young player who had fared well,” said Shetty, who was part of the Mahindra team when the Pandit-led outfit won the Times Shield by beating Tata Sports Club in 1993 apart from being in the XI when Mumbai won the Ranji Trophy in 2002-03.

Some of Pandit’s methods can surprise even people outside the team set up. Like I was when Pandit walked in for a pre-match press conference before the Mumbai v Australia tie at the Cricket Club of India in 2004 armed with a voice recorder. I’m not sure whether he was more interested in recording his and the then Mumbai captain Sairaj Bahutule’s views or the reporters’ questions. But there is no question about him being an exceptional coach and who is to say he won’t dress up KKR’s cabinet with their third IPL triumph in May.

mid-day’s group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance.
He tweets @ClaytonMurzello. Send your feedback to [email protected]
The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper.

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