| Name | Ishwar Pandey |
| Age | 32 Years |
| Source of Incomes | Cricket, Endorsements |
| Last Updated | January 2022 |
India is never really short of cricket talent, and if you are looking for a bowling all-rounder or simply raw pacers, Madhya Pradesh (MP) is one of the places to look into. Multiple MP youngsters have made heads turn at the domestic level but couldn’t really crack the code of getting into the Indian squad.
Ishwar Pandey- A Bowler born with natural swing
Now, they have Venkatesh Iyer breaking that jinx. But Before Iyer, there was Ishwar Pandey. The tall lanky pacer was the first from his state in many years to get into the Indian squad. Yet, he had to sit out of the playing eleven and warmed the bench for a couple of series. He got close but couldn’t get closer.
He still keeps coming back and never really stopped dreaming. His life in the past few years was/is simple. He would turn up for MP, would use his height to extract that extra bounce off the pitch, would rip off the opponent’s batting order, and get his name in the history book but somehow would fall short when it comes to the National selection. Repeat.
Pandey didn’t choose cricket, but the game chose him. It was a long summer vacation, and the teen had a lot of time. So, along with a few friends, Pandey decided to go for a nearby trail. Even his casual try was good enough to impress the selectors at that time. The trail was for his hometown Rewa, a competitive side in MP’s divisional cricket.
While breaking into the side was easier, Pandey found it difficult to convince his father, a retired Subedar Major in the army. His strict father wanted his two boys to make a mark in their studies, and cricket was never really an option. It took Pandey’s university coach to convince him.
Once his father was on board, he wanted his son to give his fullest in whatever he did. Thus, Science became Arts and Cricket became the main goal.
Pandey soon made it to the Under-19 team. Though he didn’t return with many wickets and was subsequently dropped from the side, a few deliveries stood out and had impressed the then MP coach.
After being dropped from the side, Pandey worked hard to find his way back into the stateside once again. In that same year, his divisional cricket numbers were just too good to be overlooked as he made it to the MP U22 side.
While his fitness and height worked as his USP, the officials believed that he could improve his pace and sent him to the MRF Pace Academy in Chennai. An improved Pandey got into the senior team and slowly began to live up to the potential.
TP Sudhindra led the bowling attack for the team while Pandey was his perfect second fiddle, but when the former was banned, Pandey had to take up the lead role. He did not shy away from the spot but accepted it with open hands and returned with flying colors.
Playing in his third First-class season, Pandey worked more on his accuracy, and his swing did the remaining job as he ended the 2012/13 Ranji Trophy season as the leading wicket-taker. He had 48 wickets from 15 innings with the best of 10/145 in the match.
An unforgettable domestic season opened multiple gates for Pandey. He made it to the India A team that faced England A. He got picked up by the Pune Warriors side in the Indian Premier League 2013.
A regular in the India A team by now, Pandey impressed everyone once again with 11 wickets on the South African soil. He ended that series as the joint-second leading wicket-taker.
In 2014, he got into the Chennai Super Kings squad and was a regular for the team for a couple of years. In IPL 2014, he had six wickets, and in IPL 2015, he had 11 wickets to his name. In both seasons, he had an economy rate below eight. Though he never played in IPL again, he continued to impress with his domestic numbers. He had 83 wickets from 2015-2018.
Before the pandemic could take over, Pandey was on a roll. In 2019, in order to improve his skills, he made a move to Yorkshire to play in the North Yorkshire and South Durham Premier Cricket League Premier Division where he ended as the leading wicket-taker for his team with 37 wickets.
Today, his chances to get back to the Indian team might have gone from being elusive to remote, but he is not going to stop any soon and gets the fuel to fight by helping out his village members.
He is still the superstar to his hometown Rewa, and people out there are never tired of asking him for help. Sometimes, the help wouldn’t even be cricket-related, but the good-hearted man he is, Pandey makes sure to help them all while keeping his dreams alive. Let’s go through the stats and exclusive interview with Ishwar Pandey:-
Remarkable Cricket Journey of our very own Pacer “Ishwar Pandey”:-
| Format | Matches | Wickets | Average |
| IPL | 25 | 18 | 32.83 |
| List-A | 58 | 63 | 37.11 |
| First-Class | 72 | 252 | 25.39 |
