Not wickets, but line and length are my focus while bowling - Ishwar Pandey

Ishwar Pandey

Madhya Padesh seamer Ishwar Pandey made an impressive start to his tour of New Zealand by taking three wickets in a warm up game in Whangarei. This was after a three week long wait since the team landed in New Zealand for the tour.

Although the two day game wasn’t an official one, it sure seems to have left a good impression on skipper Dhoni.

Dhoni had earlier said that Pandey needed to work on his bowling. “Regarding Ishwar Pandey, we thought that there is some more work needed on his bowling before he can be tried,” Dhoni had said.

The pacer had this to say after being asked about it, “Mostly, I have learnt a lot about the difference between bowling in different formats. How you have to bring in variations in your bowling in ODIs and T20s, what works and what doesn’t work, while learning how different it is to bowl in Tests.”

The lanky bowler seemed very delighted with his performance. “It was a good chance for me,” said Pandey. “I tried to bowl like I have done in this domestic season. Whenever I bowl, my only focus is to bowl a consistent line and length, and not focus on taking wickets. It has worked for me in the domestic arena, and similarly I want to do well here, not just for myself but also for the team.”

Pandey disagreed about being frustrated for having to sit out in the ODI series. “All our bowlers are very good and it was a team decision that I should sit out. Rotating the bowlers is the team management’s job and that’s how it works in cricket. It is not that I didn’t learn anything out of that experience. So far this tour has been a great learning for me,” Pandey said.

Pandey had nothing but words of praise for coach Duncan Fletcher  and bowling coach Joe Dawes. “I have worked a lot on my basics, just small mistakes here and there, and how to improve them. I have discussed these aspects with coach (Fletcher) and bowling coach Joe Dawes, and their inputs have helped me a lot,” said the fast bowler.