‘My boys were in awe of Mumbai’s 42 Ranji trophies on display’ Chandrakant Pandit

Madhya Pradesh head coach Chandrakant Pandit (right) with his players at the MCA Sharad Pawar Cricket Museum recently

Former India wicketkeeper-batsman and Madhya Pradesh (MP) team's head coach Chandrakant Pandit, who is in the city with his team, wants the visiting players to take inspiration from the rich history and achievements of Mumbai cricket. For this, he took his team to the MCA Sharad Pawar Cricket Museum at the Wankhede Stadium recently.

"After getting the boys to play some matches across Mumbai's maidans [Azad Maidan and Cross maidan] the main purpose behind visiting this museum was to show them the historic achievements of Mumbai's stalwarts, who also played on these maidans. You can understand why Mumbai have been dominant for such a long time, and be inspired to play like them," Pandit, who guided MP to their 2021-22 Ranji title, told mid-day on Thursday.

When asked about the reaction of his players when they saw Mumbai's record 42 Ranji Trophy titles, Pandit, 64, said: "I saw a question mark on their faces as they stared at those 42 Ranji Trophies, wondering how Mumbai created that history. Mumbai has produced 73 Test cricketers, some of whom went on to become India captains too. Photos of India's T20 World Cup-winning captains Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav, both Mumbai superstars, are also on display. The boys are definitely inspired by this," concluded Pandit, who played five Tests and 36 ODIs for India, and later guided Mumbai (three titles) and Vidarbha (two) as head coach to clinch the Ranji Trophy.