It was a good day in the park for hard-working paceman Ishwar Pandey.
On view was the consistency that underlines the bowling of this 24-year-old seamer from Madhya Pradesh.
“It is good to play for India even if this is not an international game. It is a great feeling to walk out with the side,” he said.
Asked about his bowling that fetched him three wickets, Pandey said, “I was keen to settle on a line and did so. This is more important to me than picking wickets. If I bowl an off-stump line, wickets will come.”
On missing a place in the Indian XI during the recent ODI series here, Pandey said, “It is the decision of the team-management. I respect that.” The surface here for the two-day game, he felt, had some bounce.
Pandey, who has 131 wickets in 31 first-class matches at 24.43, said his idol was Aussie legend Glenn McGrath.
It was a rewarding outing in the middle for New Zealand under-19 captain Robert O’ Donnell.
The opener from Auckland said, “Every opportunity I get against an international side is valuable. I have been working on the technical as well as the mental aspects of the game.”
On the toughest Indian bowler he faced during his attractive innings of 80, O’Donnell said, “Ashwin bowled very well. He knew exactly what he was doing. He’s a smart bowler. There was some bounce in the wicket and he bowled a lot of top-spinners too.”
On a stroke that fetched him plenty of runs on Sunday, O’Donnell said, “I always like to play the pull when the ball is pitched short. Sometimes the stroke can also get you out.”
