World Cup 2019: 3 Indian Players for whom time is running out
The India-West Indies One Day series is upon us. West Indies are a different team in white ball cricket and hence unlike the Test series, the one-day series is expected to generate a lot of interest and following.
With hardly 8 months to go for the World Cup, teams are in the process of narrowing down their options and arriving at the best combination. The one-day series of 5 matches is a good opportunity for both India and the West Indies to identify the players who are good enough to last the distance.
In that context, the forthcoming one-day series against the West Indies assumes supreme importance for 3 Indian players to press their claim, failing which they will be left high and dry.
Here is the list of those 3 Indian players for whom time is running out.
#1 Manish Pandey
Matches – 23-Runs – 440- Avg – 37- 100s – 1 -50s – 2
Manish Pandey was a product of the IPL. He was the first Indian to score a hundred in IPL which brought him to the national limelight.
Manish Pandey’s international career started on a high when he scored 71 in his first one-day match against Zimbabwe. He followed that up with an unbeaten match-winning century against Australia in Sydney. When everyone thought India had unearthed a match winner, Pandey’s next six innings produced just 80 runs. As a result, he was dropped from the team after the New Zealand series at home in October’ 2016.
Pandey had to wait for the next 10 months to get another opportunity to play against Sri Lanka at Colombo. On his comeback, Manish Pandey scored a 50 not out and 36. Thereafter, it was a downslide yet again with scores of 0,3, 36 not out, 33, 11 not out, 2 and 8 in his last 7 one day innings. To be fair to Manish Pandey, he didn’t get continuous opportunities but when he did get one, he failed to deliver.
Manish Pandey has been inconsistent all through his career. The insecurity factor has always played on his mind. Manish played for under-19 alongside Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. But while their careers took off, Pandey has been in and out of the Indian One-Day team.
At times, one is led to believe that Manish Pandey is in the One-Day team on the basis of his performances in the T20 internationals and IPL. Pandey is a brilliant fielder but he doesn’t bowl which reduces his utility value to the team.
The absence of Dinesh Karthik and Kedar Jadhav in the present Indian squad should infuse a sense of safety in Manish Pandey which should inspire him to do better against the West Indies.
For starters, Manish Pandey should score at least a 50 in the first two one day matches to get retained for the rest of the series and deal with it from there.
Manish Pandey is under immense pressure to perform right away in the limited opportunity he is likely to get. It is now or never for him.