Manish Pandey made a successful return to international cricket, producing a well-paced half-century that helped India to a massive 375 for five in the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka here on Thursday.

Pandey remained unbeaten on 50 (42b, 4x4) and raised 100-run partnership for the unseparated sixth wicket with MS Dhoni (49 n.o.) to lift India out of small trouble, after slipping to 274/5 from being 262/2.

Playing his first game of the series in place of an out of sorts Kedar Jadhav, Pandey walked in with team needing some consolidation and he did just that.

“I had a chat with Ravi (Shastri) Bhai yesterday and even today before the start of the game about how I take some time before I start playing my natural game,” the 27-year-old said when asked about his approach to his innings. “That’s what my plan was. Knowing that I got my batting after the 35th over where again one wicket (KL Rahul) fell and then me and Mahi (Dhoni) bhai were there.

“The mindset was to spend some time on the wicket first, like how many balls I should take initially. I need to take at least 6-10 balls to know what’s the wicket like and things like that. It was spinning a bit when the middle-order got out but as I said there was a plan to spend some time and that’s how I do it and eventually it came off well for me. There were wickets falling on the other side but I had to keep my calm and rotate the strike. That really helped me,” he offered.

On batting with Dhoni, the Karnataka batsman said it wasn’t a new experience to him. “I have played a few games with him already now. I know how he plays, I know how he likes to rotate strike. Even I like to bat with somebody who loves to do that. Occasionally we get some boundaries and that’s how we keep the scoreboard ticking. With Mahi bhai, you are always on your toes and he keeps giving you advice.”

'Plan was to spend time in the middle'