Indian batsman Manish Pandey says he has endured a tough time waiting for his sporadic chances, asserting that he has what it takes to be a regular pick in the star-studded middle order if given a longer rope.
“Honestly, it’s a little tough (waiting for chances) and it works on your mind a lot. Especially on this tour, I have felt it a lot actually but that is what cricket is all about. You have to wait for your chances to play for a team like India where you have so many stars and legend after legend (in the team). So I am trying my bit there,” he said.
“I was waiting to play here. Even in the ODIs, I was trying to squeeze my chances in but that didn’t happen. But in the T20s, it has been good and Centurion has always been good to me. I still remember the hundred I got here about 9-10 years ago, so it is good to always bat here,” he said.
Pandey admitted he was a bit slow in his first outing at the Wanderers, where he scored 29 not out off 27 balls.
“From ball one, you have to go for it. That’s what I tried to do in the first game but I played a little slow. It happens coming back after a long time and staying here. It was in my mind a little bit but today was a good day for me.
India scored 62 runs off the last five overs to end the innings at 188 and Pandey credited Dhoni for the fireworks.
“Mahi just woke up,” he added, with a laugh.
“That was his chance. He is the best when he bats lower down the order. He takes a couple of overs, looks to dominate and that’s what happened.”
Key factor
South Africa’s newest swashbuckler Heinrich Klaasen has credited J-P. Duminy for “taking the fear out” of his game, saying the skipper’s presence was a key factor in his match-winning knock.
“Duminy was the key factor to my whole innings. Second over or the first over I faced, he told me this over needs to go for 10. He told me to just play my normal game and take the bowlers on. Luckily today it worked out,” said Klaasen.
