Manish Pandey had to see a doctor for getting only sporadic opportunities in the Indian team

The Indian team lost the second T20I fixture at Centurion yesterday by six wickets, in what was a high-octane clash. Despite the loss, Manish Pandey’s stellar innings was one of the highlights of yesterday’s fixture. It was at Centurion during the 2009 Indian Premier League, an unknown commodity became a household name. Manish Pandey hit the headlines after becoming the first Indian batsman to score a century in the IPL and now after almost a decade, he endured a bittersweet return to the venue.

The Karnataka cricketer sparkled with an unbeaten 79 but ended up on the losing side as South Africa leveled the T20I series 1-1. Despite the result, Pandey was pleased to have finally made an impact with only sporadic opportunities coming his way. He did not feature in a single game during the ODI leg and finally received a chance in the T20I series. However, the first game didn’t go exactly the way he wanted as Pandey made only an unbeaten 29 off 27 balls before raising the bar at Centurion.

Pandey conceded it was tough to be warming the bench constantly, but emphasized the need to be patient in a star-studded Indian lineup. Even though Pandey’s addition seemed to have solved the middle-order puzzle, the 28-year-old has been constantly in and out of the playing XI.

Speaking on the same lines, he said, “India has got a really good top line-up. We have top three batting for about 35-40 overs with guys like Virat and then Mahi coming in ahead of me. But yeah I think it’d be nice to get some more chances and wish I could deliver more.” He added as quoted by Cricbuzz, “Honestly, it is a little tough. It works on your mind a lot. Especially on this tour, I felt it a lot actually. I had to see a doctor also because of that.”

India smashed 55 runs in the final four overs and Pandey credited MS Dhoni for the finishing touch, “I think Mahi woke up. (Laughs). It was his chance, he’s probably the best lower down the order,” he said. “In the last couple of overs he looks to dominate and that’s what happens. He’s done that a number of times. I thought SA bowled fairly well. It’s just that a couple of inside edges went to the boundary and some really good shots by Mahi took us to 188. I think South Africa bowled fairly well today.”

Rain made it easy for South Africa to chase the target

Despite a nervy start, the Proteas cruised to their chase of 189 with fair ease at the end. However, Manish Pandey revealed that the constant drizzle during the second half of the game enhanced the surface for batting.

Pandey also heaped praises on South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen, who starred for the hosts in the run chase with a quickfire 69.