Manish Pandey made a stunning revelation that he never received a call from his IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) about him being released ahead of the IPL 2023 auction and came to know of it when the lists were revealed on TV.
While there were some big overseas names like Kieron Pollard, Kane Williamson, and Dwayne Bravo, who weren't retained, a few Indian players like Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey, and Ajinkya Rahane too couldn't win the trust of their old franchises.
LSG had picked Manish Pandey for INR 4.6 crores in the IPL 2022 mega auction, but the Karnataka batter couldn’t do much in the tournament, making just 88 runs in six matches striking at 110.
He was one of the seven players released by LSG and Pandey said that he never got a call that he was being released by the franchise and he only got to know the same on the retention day.
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"No, I never got a call. I just got to know about it on the day the list was announced. There was no real communication, but yeah that’s alright. As players, you have to be ready. Because if you are not playing a lot of games, I understand from LSG’s point of view that they wanted to release me and get some extra money in the kitty for some other players or whatever the plan is," Manish said while speaking to Sportskeeda.
Pandey was criticized for his poor strike rate in his previous 2-3 years in the IPL but has said he is someone who likes to take some balls before getting set but once that's out of the way, he likes going for his shots and that's how he plays his game.
"Yeah obviously, it is very important. But at the same time, I am somebody who likes to spend a little bit of time on the wicket. And when I am set, I look to go big. So that’s how I have been playing. And obviously there are days when the batting doesn’t click for you or you don’t get a lot of runs. But this is how I play and, probably as time goes by, I will try and work on it, how much ever I can. I want to be a better player as every day goes on. This is my plan," he added.
Pandey will now have to hope to find a new home for IPL 2023 when the auction takes place on December 23 in Kochi.
