India v/s Sri Lanka: ‘With MS Dhoni, one is always on their toes,’ says Manish Pandey

Indian middle-order batsman Manish Pandey has said that on the back of his half-century in the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka, he is looking to cement his spot in the playing XI. The visitors won by 168 runs to take a 4-0 lead in the series.

“Middle order is where I bat. Starting from no.4 to no.6 I have batted at different positions for India. I have to be ready for whatever spot I get. So if I get a chance then I need to get some runs and cement that spot for myself first,” Pandey said at the post-match press conference last night.

He added, “Then if you keep performing and you keep playing better, then maybe you come one up in the order. So that will be my goal to fix a spot or two for myself, stay there at the end and win games for India.” Pandey’s unbeaten knock came off 42 balls, and was studded with four boundaries.

“Even batting through the India-A series, I batted very similar to the way I batted on Thursday. So it was not too different for me to come back and think about it like it was my first game in a long …read more