Chandrakant Pandit Explains How He Managed With 'Overconfident' MI's Kumar Kartikeya

Chandrakant Pandit, the Ranji Trophy-winning coach of Madhya Pradesh, spoke about working with spin bowler Kumar Kartikeya, who completed the 2021/22 season as the second-highest wicket-taker.

Madhya Pradesh won the Ranji Trophy for the first time in the tournament’s history, defeating Mumbai in the final last week.

Kartikeya recorded three five-wicket hauls and concluded the Ranji Trophy campaign as the second-highest wicket-taker (32 wickets in 11 innings). However, when Chandrakant Pandit joined the team in 2020, he had to control Kartikeya’s “overconfidence,” according to the title-winning coach of MP.

In an interview with News18, Pandit remarked, “With certain players, I have to be tough with words to bruise their egos.”

“The goal is to inspire people to work with the best forward rather than to diminish them in any manner. For instance, left-arm arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya Singh may have been a little overconfident. Possibly a little careless So I had to motivate him in my Mumbai dialect,” Pandit remarked.

‘I think he fears me as much as his parents’: Chandrakant Pandit

In the same interview, the Madhya Pradesh coach noted that Kartikeya fears him “as much as his parents,” but emphasized that “hardly anyone” has his talent.

“He bowls steadily and has a lot of faith in his abilities. He keeps asking if he can bowl one or two chinaman deliveries, and I keep saying yes. I have never tried to stop him. In the end, he accomplished it. He may also feel depressed and overconfident.”

“He probably dreads me more than his parents do. His caliber is exceedingly rare. Yes, he ought to be able to advance to the next level,” Pandit remarked.

In the 2022 Indian Premier League, Kumar Kartikeya first gained attention when the Mumbai Indians signed him midway through the season to fill Arshad Khan’s spot. With MI, he had a successful stint, taking five wickets in four games.

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