“I never got a call from LSG” - Manish Pandey talks IPL release, strike-rates & unfulfilled potential

A 19-year-old Manish Pandey lighting up the Centurion sky with that 114* off 73 balls, way back in IPL 2009, was a revelation. It took 115 games for an Indian to reach triple figures in their own league. The teenager was touted to drive the country’s new-found obsession with the shortest format.

Manish Pandey’s career has been like that flowerpot cracker which you expect to rise higher and higher, but it ends up creating just noise pollution. You look at him and there's promise written all over. But his trajectory has been a damp squib.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) played him in 13 of the 16 games the following season. But that spark was missing. In fact, he had to wait till July 2015 to realise the dream of playing for the country. He might have looked at the rapid strides of Virat Kohli, his under-19 captain, and questioned the selection criteria. For the record, Kohli had just a fifty each in IPL 2009 and 2010, with his numbers being very similar to Pandey's.

Manish Pandey announced himself on the biggest stage in style by stroking an 86-ball 71 against Zimbabwe in Harare during India's 2015 tour. But it was again followed by unfulfilled expectations. He received his T20I cap on the same tour, but his returns were 19 (19) and 0(3).

Six months later, he smashed an unbelievable 104* off 81 to help India chase down 330 in Sydney. You’d think, there’s surely no stopping Manish Pandey now. He batted six more times that year, but his next ODI half-century would come after almost 18 months. And there hasn’t been another thereafter.

Opportunities in T20I were more in number. But there was no change in the script. Pandey finally seemed to come of age when India toured South Africa in early 2018. But a similar purple patch again came about two years later in New Zealand. By then, the selectors had run out of patience. His last outing in India colours came in Sri Lanka last year when there had to be a separate team sent alongside the Test squad in the UK.

His IPL graph has also been plotted using the same tracing paper. After being around for 13 editions and yet not having a breakout year, the 33-year-old struggled for a place in the last two seasons. The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) went a step further and released him ahead of the IPL 2023 mini-auction.

In addition to his lack of consistency, another aspect of his game that has polarised opinion is his attacking mode. A career strike rate of 123.83 in T20 cricket is criminal, especially in this day and age. His IPL log is placed even below at 121.52. He has been Karnataka’s highest run-getter in the past two T20 seasons. But his scoring rates of 107.08 and 128.64, respectively, failed to inspire.

In his defence, though, out of the 24 times he has remained not out in international cricket, India have lost just once. Ironically, it came when he smashed a T20I career-best 79* off 48 balls at the same venue which witnessed his IPL ton. His List A rate of 93.98, though, is better than most contemporary greats.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Manish Pandey stated that he is working on his strike-rate. Although, he acknowledged that he likes to first get his eye in before stretching the wings. But while talking about the inability to string together a run of good scores, he lamented like a footballer who has missed an open goal.

India’s T20I cohort is set to undergo transition. On the other hand, the management is still in the process of putting together the right middle order for the ODI showpiece next year. In essence, if Manish Pandey’s jailbreak IPL season finally comes to fruition, he will get another shot at resurrecting what once seemed a promising India career.

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Excerpts from Manish Pandey's exclusive interview to Sportskeeda

Manish Pandey scored just 88 runs in six matches at a timid strike-rate of 110 in IPL 2022 [Credits: LSG]

Q. LSG didn’t retain you for IPL 2023. Did you have a chat with them before the official list came out?

Manish Pandey: No, I never got a call. I just got to know about it on the day the list was announced. There was no real communication, but yeah that’s alright. As players, you have to be ready. Because if you are not playing a lot of games, I understand from LSG’s point of view that they wanted to release me and get some extra money in the kitty for some other players or whatever the plan is.

Q. Have any other franchises contacted you?

Manish Pandey: I am not in touch with any of the other teams as of now. I am just looking to perform well in these games and let’s see where destiny takes me.

Q. Talking about destiny, how did you initially cope with not getting a continuous run of matches?

Manish Pandey: I have been through that situation even with the Indian team. Because there were a lot of times where I have not played a lot of games and I have been sitting out. You actually feel a little sad about it, but it is all in the spirit of the game where the team requires something and then you have to abide by that. So I have been in these kind of situations before and I think I should not be letting all these things affect me which will eventually affect my game. So I just want to be in the present. If I get an opportunity, I want to play and score well and see how it goes from there.

Q. It is important to stay in the present. But do you also look at the bigger picture, especially now that India’s T20I side will be rejigged?

Manish Pandey: Unfortunately, we could not win the World Cup this time. But we had a solid team. And my inclusion depends on so many things. Again it’ll be the whole cycle – a lot of people who will be performing in the IPL will come up, and we will have to form teams around that. Looking at the top 20 or the top 25 that we have, we have a really solid side and we are still No. 1.

Q. There has been a lot of talk around your strike-rate. What is your take on the importance of it in T20 cricket?

Manish Pandey: Yeah obviously, it is very important. But at the same time, I am somebody who likes to spend a little bit of time on the wicket. And when I am set, I look to go big. So that’s how I have been playing. And obviously there are days when the batting doesn’t click for you or you don’t get a lot of runs. But this is how I play and, probably as time goes by, I will try and work on it, how much ever I can. I want to be a better player as every day goes on. This is my plan.

Q. Apart from strike-rate, is there any other aspect you have been particularly working on?

Manish Pandey: I just want to work on my consistency. That’s how a batter is measured. If you are consistently scoring and performing for your team, you are in that positive state of mind. I will be in a happy space if I am able to consistently perform in every game. And that’s the only thing I have worked on, apart from my strike-rate and anything else that I have.

Q. These days, players get a long rope. Do you feel a bit hard done by for not getting as many opportunities?

Manish Pandey: See obviously, individually I would feel a little sad about it. But I am sure, whatever calls the Indian team was taking or whoever was playing a certain number of games, I was happy for them. Sanju was batting well, so I thought he should have now gotten games and he did. So no hard feelings there. But on a personal front, I would obviously want to play a lot more games and prove myself at the highest level. But unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Maybe see how it goes from here on.