By CricketCountry Staff
Pune Warriors India batsman Manish Pandey feels he could be in contention for a national spot if he performs consistently well in IPL 2012. Pandey expressed his ideas after a gritty knock of 80 from 56 balls against Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday.
Published: Apr 25, 2012, 04:49 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 25, 2012, 04:49 PM (IST)
Manish Pandey rose to fame after his 78 ball 114 against Deccan Chargers in IPL 2009 © AFP
By CricketCountry Staff
Pune: Apr 25, 2012
Pune Warriors India batsman Manish Pandey feels he could be in contention for a national spot if he performs consistently well in IPL 2012. Pandey expressed his ideas after a gritty knock of 80 from 56 balls against Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday.
“If I do well in the IPL, I might get a chance to play for the national side. You face a lot better bowlers at the international level and IPL is a confidence and a morale booster for all the youngsters” he was quoted as saying by iplt20.com
Manish Pandey has a century against his name in IPL when he scored 114 of 73 balls opening for Royal Challenger Bangalore. However a failure in the first match made his Pune skipper Sourav to push him down the order. Pandey however felt that his batting is more suitable to open the innings than managing things in the middle order. With the opening slot proving to be a huge source of worry for PWI, the budding right-hander has gone a long way in making his case for claiming that position in the batting line-up.
“As I opened the batting yesterday and played well, I’m hoping that I will open in the next game as well with Jesse [Ryder]. This was probably the opportunity I was waiting for. Today, I played a decent knock. If I continue playing such knocks and contribute to the team, I will definitely get the chance to open again,” said an optimistic Pandey.
“I was waiting to open the innings as I am used to it. Dada [Sourav Ganguly] gave me the opportunity and I am blessed. I was playing well in the nets and I was just waiting for a good opportunity,” He added.
In contrast to a disappointing performance last year, Pune Warriors India have performed exceedingly well, and are currently placed among the top four of the points tally. Pandey pointed to strong performance by players which have helped the cause of the team.
“We didn’t do so well in the last season, and this time we came back really hard and strong. We have been playing some good cricket and beat DD in Delhi but couldn’t do it here today. It depends on the performances of all the players; their accumulative efforts,” he said.
He concluded on a positive note that at a young age IPL and his experience being with Pune has taught him a lot, “We have world-class players in the team and Dada as our leader. There is a lot to learn as a 22-year-old. I need to keep working hard and keep myself strong in order to improve my game.” he said.
