Quadrangular Series Was A Proving Ground And Get Looked At For The Asia Cup: Manish Pandey

Out-of-favour Manish Pandey has said he is eyeing an spot in the Indian team for the upcoming Asia Cup.

Pandey, on Monday (August 27), once again proved his credentials by slamming a century against Australia A in the Quadrangular series. Prior to that, he had scored 21* and 95* against India A and South Africa A respectively.

The knocks have come at a time when India is in desperate need of a reliable middle-order batsman. Suresh Raina failed to make his chance count in England. Dinesh Karthik has not impressed either although he did not get too many chances in the ODIs. Kedar Jadhav, on the other hand, recently recovered from a hamstring injury that kept him on the sidelines for four months. MS Dhoni’s struggles in England have further elevated the team-management’s worries.

Shreyas Iyer was also an option but his form in the Quadrangular series is unlikely to put him in good stead. The right-hander has made scores of 4, 20 and 7 so far.

And amidst all this, Pandey is sensing a chance for himself. The right-hander, who last played an ODI in December 2017, said that he is eyeing India’s middle-order.

“Personally, I just think about batting. I’m looking at the middle order at the moment, trying to seal that position,” Pandey said. “This series was a proving ground to get some runs and get looked at for the Asia Cup. I want to enjoy myself, there is competition, but I want to focus on what I do best.”

Pandey did not play a single game in England. Prior to that, he had played in two T20Is against Ireland, scoring 0* and 21*. And he said that phase affected him mentally. .

“I wasn’t feeling good, so I took a three-week break after the UK tour,” he said. “I wanted to switch off, took time off the game, and then used the time to focus on a couple of niggles and get myself mentally fresh. That seems to have helped.”

Before that tour, Pandey had fared poorly in the Indian Premier League. He could not hit the ground running for his new side Sunrisers Hyderabad. Pandey struggled throughout and finished with 284 runs at a strike rate of 115.44.

Speaking about it, he said:

“I think it’s never easy batting lower down the order with few overs remaining in T20s. But you have to be ready for the chances because you wait for so long. The more games I play in that situation, it will help me prepare for tough situations. There are always learnings you try and take out of such situations. That’s what I also did.

“In the IPL, I struggled, yes. I wasn’t reacting to situations like I normally do, maybe that’s also because I was batting lower down. At KKR, I had a set role in the top three. Batting elsewhere made it tougher for me, but I can’t offer excuses. I have to accept the reality as it is and try and work my game around these tough situations,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Asia Cup gets underway on September 15 in United Arabia Emirates. India are yet to announce their squad for the event. Well, Pandey will get one more chance to impress the selectors when he lead India B against Australia A in the Quadrangular Series final.