Sporting Sandy takes MCA loss in his stride

Itrsquos rare to find Sandeep Patil awake beyond 9 pm But the earlytobedearlytorise former India cricketer has been forced to stay up on some recent nights due to the Mumbai Cricket Association electionsThursday was one such night He was at the Wankhede Stadium where he had delighted crowds from the late 1970s to the early 1990s His night ended in dejection as he lost the presidentrsquos post to Amol KaleHe is known to take blows well When Patil was replaced by S Madan Lal six months into his India coach job in 1996 he didnrsquot bare his hurting self Instead he wished his fellow 1983 World Cup winner Madan the very bestA tough coachYears later it came to light that he was a tough coach and that didnrsquot go down well with some playersPatil took up other assignments and enjoyed some level of success After Kenya fared poorly in the 1999 World Cup they appointed Patil to coach them The result The East Africans entered their one and only World Cup semifinals pitted against the same team he coached in 1996mdashIndia Of course Kenya lost but they received unprecedented plaudits for their overall showPatil has always taken the highs and lows with equanimity One will never see him up on a high or down on a low Very often he has stressed to this writer that to select and drop is the choice of the establishment and that must be respected It will come as no surprise if he replaced the word lsquoestablishmentrsquo with lsquovotersrsquo in his latest disappointmentThat he has taken the loss in his stride was evident through his post elections utterances In fact he told reporters that he is willing to help Mumbai cricket If this is not sportsman spirit then what is It reminded me of what Raj Singh Dungarpur his manager on Indiarsquos 1982 and 1986 tours of England told me about Patil on the former tour Patil was to be dropped for the opening Test at Lordrsquos At the prematch team meeting it was announced that Ghulam Parkar his Mumbai teammate would take his place in the XI Sure Patil was expecting the exclusion since he was in no mental state to play but he got up from his seat went to Parkar and gave the tobe debutant a warm hugAlso ReadNew MCA president Amol Kale vows to fulfil promises defeated Sandeep Patil willing to help new panelPatil moves onI spoke with Patil on Friday morning and he was in no mood to dwell on his election result He was on his way to New Delhi to be a television expert for the ongoing T20 World CupThe majority of voters have seen the back of him It is hoped that they donrsquot live to regret it That politicians of different parties had to come together to ensure he didnrsquot get voted into power is a tribute to the kind of threat Patil posed Yes he enjoys popularity but one shouldnrsquot discount his credentialsLife goes on for Patil and donrsquot be surprised if he has already well and truly put the last few days behind himAnd yes he wonrsquot have to be up on most nights now