His sweat-soaked visage gleams in the evening sun. Ishwar Pandey works hard, in fact very hard on his cricket.
The lanky paceman from Madhya Pradesh expects the forthcoming five-Test series in England to be a turning point in his career. Ahead of the tour, he is training full throttle at the MRF Pace Foundation here.
“He has a great attitude,” said head coach at the Pace Foundation, M. Senthilnathan.
Pandey said to The Hindu , “I have a natural outswinger. That should enable me pick wickets in the English conditions. Of course, I bring the occasional ball in.”
Smooth run-upThe tall seamer has a smooth run-up and release, can keep his concentration and discipline over long spells and consistently probe the batsman around the off-stump.
The legendary Australian seamer Glenn McGrath is his idol. “He is my role model. His control over line and length was impeccable. There is so much I have learnt from him at the Foundation here.”
Movement is the keyPandey is not quick but operates at around 135 kmph and moves the ball. “I do not expect the pitches in England to be as bouncy as the ones in Australia or South Africa. So movement will be the key. You could get wickets by getting the batsman to drive off the front foot and find the edges with swing.”
The promising Pandey did bowl splendidly in the tour game at Whangarei during India’s campaign in New Zealand earlier this year. However, an opportunity eluded him in the five ODIs and the two Tests.
Pandey will miss Zaheer Khan’s guidance in England. “In New Zealand, Zaheer bhai used to help me out a lot, like walking up to me and telling me the right length to bowl or the importance of the use of the crease.” The 24-year-old Pandey’s record in first class cricket — 131 wickets in 31 matches at 24.43 — is creditable. The belief is, he can go on to achieve much bigger things.
