Manish Pandey struck an unbeaten half-century against Sri Lanka in Colombo. (Source: AP)
The Virat Kohli-led Indian team continued their successful run on the tour of Sri Lanka after thumping the hosts by 168 runs in Colombo on Thursday. India had already sealed the series earlier after they won the third match and made few changes in this fourth clash of the five-match series. Middle-order batsman Manish Pandey got a chance be a part of playing XI on Thursday and the right-handed batsman did capitalise on the opportunity as when on to score a half-century.
Talking about his position in the Indian team, Pandey during the post-match conference insisted that he would require to score runs in order to cement his position in the team.
“Middle order is where I bat. Starting from no.4 to no.6 I have batted at different positions for India. I have to be ready for whatever spot I get. So if I get a chance then I need to get some runs and cement that spot for myself first,” Pandey said.
“Then if you keep performing and you keep playing better, then maybe you come one up in the order. So that will be my goal to fix a spot or two for myself, stay there at the end and win games for India,” he told.
“Even batting through the India-A series, I batted very similar to the way I batted today. So it was not too different for me to come back and think about it like it was my first game in a long time. I have been batting well in the nets and I just had to watch the ball and play,” he added.
Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma notched up individual tons during the fourth ODI and Pandey hailed the foundation laid by the two batsmen in the starting of the innings.
“The start was really important for us. I think we did well given the fact that it was really hot. The guys were batting very well and were looking for boundaries. The way Virat and Rohit batted, getting their hundreds, I thought it allowed us to come back in the middle overs (after the collapse) and look for boundaries. It was a little easier for us in the end,” Pandey said.
India lost some wickets in quick succession in middle overs before MS Dhoni and Pandey provided the resistance and scored an unbeaten stand of 101 runs to anchor the visitors’ total to 375/5 in 50 overs. Mentioning about his batting, the right-hander suggested that he took time to get his eye and rotated the strike regularly in the initial part of his innings.
“My 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. It was spinning a bit when the middle-order got out but as I said there was a plan to spend some time 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,” he added.
Former India captain Dhoni played his 300th ODI on Thursday and Manish Pandey had words of praise for the wicket-keeper batsman.
“To play 300 ODIs is a lot of experience. Like half the things you have probably learnt are by way of looking at the way Dhoni conducts himself. It is inspirational, especially for a guy like me who started my career under him, so it’s always good to be there and learn from him,” said Pandey.
“I have played a few games with him already. I know how he plays. I know how he likes to rotate strike. I like to bat with somebody who loves to do that. Occasionally we get some fours and that’s how we keep the scoreboard ticking. With Mahi bhai, you are always on your toes and he keeps giving you advice,” he added.
KL Rahul hasn’t been able to leave a mark in this ODI series but Pandey feels that he needs to understand the way middle overs go about as he has generally opened the batting.
“Rahul is used to batting in the top order and the game is a little different there. It is on him to come out of this situation again. Perhaps he has to understand how the middle overs go because he always opens the batting and suddenly you are batting after 30 overs, you need some time. Maybe as he plays more matches batting in the middle order, he will get used to it. Even I was found it difficult when I was batting at no.6, because I was coming after 40 overs and I was used to batting at no.4 when batting comes after 25 overs. So it always takes time, and the faster you learn and the better batsman you become and I think that’s what I have done,” said Pandey.
Talking about his own batting, Pandey expressed his delight of getting a chance and capitalising on it.
“I had a chat with Ravi Bhai yesterday and even today before the start of the game about how I take some time before I start playing my natural game. So that’s what my plan was. I got my batting after the 35th over where again one wicket fell and me and Mahi bhai were there. The way we batted was pretty good and it helped us through to a big total. Message from the team management was to just play my natural game. Try and spend some time in the middle. I was also waiting for this chance and I am glad that I got it now. I have to try and use these chances as much as possible to help myself become a permanent member of this team and win games for India,” Pandey said.
“As I said I have played some games in South Africa and I have to bat the way I have been batting. Definitely, it does really help a lot when you know that you have some runs in the back. Then you will eventually get a chance in the ODI side. You have to wait patiently for the chance and just bat the way you have been batting. So definitely that tournament in South Africa helped me a lot,” he signed off.
