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Pandey keen to cement his place

Kumble an assuring presence for Karnataka player in the national side
Last Updated 05 December 2016, 19:45 IST

Manish Pandey has been doing rounds of Indian national team but is yet to cement a place for himself.

In his recent stint with the national side, during the five one-day internationals against New Zealand, Pandey couldn’t make much impact. He reasons that batting at No. 5 and No. 6 position was a new experience for him, but is confident of adapting to the unfamiliar territory.

Out of the five matches against New Zealand in October, the aggressive middle order batsman got to bat at his favoured No. 4 slot only in the first two ODIs. He couldn’t build on the starts, and got run out in the second ODI. Captain MS Dhoni stroked a masterly 80 in the third match at No.4, and owned the position in the series. During the phase, Pandey was kept motivated by coach Anil Kumble with whom he has had a long association. Kumble was the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore when Pandey shot into the limelight with his blazing century at Indian Premier League in 2009, becoming the first Indian to do so.

“See, batting at No. 5 and 6 is a little difficult. I had never played at that number before. It is just a matter of time that I can get used to the situation. This is what the discussion I had with the coach Anil bhai, but he said ‘don’t worry about it. The more time you would spend with the Indian team, the more you will get to know and learn’.”

“So I will be looking to learn wherever and whatever I can. Sometimes I might not to be able to bat where I want. It is not easy but I have to get used to it,” said Pandey.

Batting at No. 4 comes naturally to the 27-year-old. “This is where I have always batted for Karnataka. It’s being a memory, a muscle memory that I have to come here and do my job.”

However, as Pandey works towards finding his feet in the national squad, it is not lost on him that he is needed to fill in the long standing demand of a finisher.

“Actually I have not had much talk with MS Dhoni as much as with Anil Bhai. But I think even he expects the same thing from me, somebody who can finish. Because I am a busy player, I like to play my strokes, trying to be aggressive, that is how I have been always. I will continue to do that,” Pandey said.

The Karnataka batsman had made international debut against Zimbabwe in Harare in July 2015. However, his breakthrough moment came six months later when with his unbeaten maiden ODI century he helped India chase a mammoth Australian total of 330. His effort helped India prevent the whitewash in the series.  “To get that 100 was really memorable, it was a very crucial 100 at that stage of my career where I had to prove to myself how god or capable I am,” he said.
 

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(Published 05 December 2016, 19:45 IST)

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