Former Indian cricketer Ashish Nehra while slamming Manish Pandey for his shot selection against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in match 6 of IPL 2021 explained why the likes of Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav went ahead of him in Team India’s pecking order.
Chasing the target of 150 runs, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) was in a comfortable position as skipper David Warner and Manish Pandey were looking solid and stitched 83 runs for the second wicket.
However, after the wicket of Warner, Manish Pandey yet again failed to convert a good start. The right-handed batsman scored 38 runs in 39 balls and threw his wicket in the 17th over of the chase as SRH suffered their second consecutive loss of IPL 14.
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Speaking to the Cricbuzz, former Indian cricketer Ashish Nehra compared the dismissal of Jonny Bairstow, Manish Pandey, and Abdul Samad to tailenders, saying that their dismissals didn't look like those of good players.
“Virat Kohli deployed his only left-arm spinner at the right time. But the way SRH batters - Jonny Bairstow, Manish Pandey, and Abdul Samad got out, it didn't seem like proper batters are getting out. They appeared to be losing wickets like tailenders, especially Pandey,” Ashish Nehra told Cricbuzz
Nehra suggested that unlike tailenders, who look to slog every turning ball, good players play according to the situation even if that means hitting grounded shots in death overs.
“When the players at positions 9, 10, 11 don’t have many options against moving deliveries, they target only mid-wicket and long on. And that’s a major difference. When you are in a good form and know how to play under pressure, you have options to hit those away going deliveries towards mid-off or cover," he said.
Ashish Nehra further explained the reason why Manish Pandey failed to cement his place in the Indian team.
He added that players like Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, and Suryakumar Yadav are ahead of him because they adapt to pressure much better than him.
“And that’s why Manish Pandey failed to cement his place in the Indian team. You look when he made his debut, and then the likes of Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav came and went far ahead. Because these players are much better at adapting to the pressure and that’s why they leapfrogged Pandey,” he concluded.
SRH will be looking to register their first win of IPL 2021 as they will face Mumbai Indians (MI) in their next match on 17th April.
(Cricbuzz Inputs)
