ICC T20 World Cup 2016: Manish Pandey on standby in light of Yuvraj Singh's injury ahead of semi-final
Ahead of India’s World T20 semi-final against West Indies in Mumbai on Thursday, Manish Pandey has been put on standby for Yuvraj Singh, who injured his ankle during the team’s crunch World T20 encounter against Australia in Mohali on Sunday.
Also read: India Vs West Indies Semi Final Tickets T20 WC 2016, Here is your chance to get free tickets
Yuvraj hasn't had the greatest of times in the World T20, scoring 63 runs in 4 matches with a highest score of 24 that came aginst Pakistan. He got to bowl in just one match, where he recorded figures of 1 for 19 in 3 overs against Australia.
Also read: India vs West Indies T20 WC Semi final, Wankhede Stadium Mumbai: Seating Arrangement, Layout, Parking, Stands, Capacity, Stats
It must be noted that Yuvraj Singh is not yet our of T20 WC. He is still part of the team and Pandey will replace him only if the former fails to recover from his injury.
Pandey has a decent Indian Premier League (IPL) record, having played 77 matches and scored 1571 runs at a strike-rate of 116.11. In the 2009 edition of the league, he became the first Indian batsman to score a hundred in the history of the competition, when he made an unbeaten 114 against the now-defunct Deccan Chargers in Centurion, while playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Also read: Latest ICC T20 Rankings: Virat Kohli and Samuel Badree to enter knockout stage as top ranked batsman and bowler
Many felt that Pandey was unlucky to miss out on a spot when the initial 15 for the competition was announced.The 26-year-old impressed one-and-all when he made his maiden ODI hundred against Australia in Sydney in January and featured in the squad that took on Sri Lanka in February.
In recent times, Pandey has formed a key component in the batting line-up of the Kolkata Knight Riders and scored a match-winning 94 in the final of the 2014 edition against the Kings XI Punjab, which helped them chase down 200 runs and lift the title for a second time in three years.
Also read: Yuvraj Singh's injury update: Ajinkya Rahane could replace Singh in World T20 semi-final