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.
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.
Pandey didn’t choose cricket, but the game chose him. It was 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.
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. Back 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-to 2018.
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.
We here at Kheltalk got a golden opportunity to take an exclusive interview of former CSK pacer Ishwar Pandey and Jasvinder Singh, Editor at Kheltalk tries to dig deep and touch every corner of Ishwar Pandey’s life inside out. 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 |
Interview of Rewanchal Express & world-class pacer “Ishwar Pandey
Q- Who was your motivation behind picking Cricket as your professional Career?
Ans- Actually, I had never thought of picking Cricket professionally. However, I always had a passion and playing cricket a lot in my early days. Things started happening on their own and one day I was sharing a dressing room with the likes of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina. My hard work, determination, and love for cricket helped me a lot in becoming a disciplined cricketer.
Q- How it all happen for you as a cricketer?
Ans- I used to play cricket for fun with the tennis ball and other open tournaments. One Day I normally went for the Under-17 Cricket trial. On that day, the coach saw me bowling in the trials. He then walked up to me and asked me to take up cricket professionally. However, I ignored him that day.
After one year, again he saw me playing in one of the tournaments in my region and he once again asked me to take up cricket professionally. On that day, I thought of taking cricket seriously and started playing with all my focus. My dad was in the military and he always wanted me to study. But, my coach convinced my dad to let me play cricket.
Q- Who is your fitness Icon?
Ans- Virat Kohli is currently my fitness icon. He is one big motivation for every sports individual across the country, who is associated with sports.
Q- One tip that was given to you by Glenn McGrath at MRF Pace Academy?
Ans- Glenn McGrath Sir advised me not to change my natural bowling action. I always feel that this tip helped me a lot in my bowling at every level of cricket from Under-19 to IPL to everywhere. McGrath Sir used to say that I am a pacer with natural fast bowling action.
Q- One Defining moment of your cricket?
Ans- Getting picked for Chennai Super Kings in IPL was the best moment of my cricket career.
Q- What is the mantra of your success in cricket?
Ans- Patience is the mantra behind my success.
Q- Which one is your dream wicket in your overall cricket career?
Ans- Taking AB de Villiers wicket in IPL while playing for CSK is my dream wicket.
Q- One best quality of MS Dhoni?
Ans- MS Dhoni provides liberty to the young players to play freely. He backs every youngster’s strengths. The same liberty he offered to me due to which I managed to do well for Chennai Super Kings in IPL.
Q- How was your experience bowling against Suresh Raina?
Ans- I share a strong bond with Suresh Raina and he has taught me during my time with Chennai Super Kings. He made me learn about what all deliveries should I bowl in different conditions. He has played a key role in making my journey at CSK successful.
Q- How you and your family reacted when you got picked for India back in 2014?
Ans- I was sleeping back at my home on 31st December as I had returned from playing one of the tournaments. I got information about my Team India’s selection through the media. Everyone back at home including my mom and dad was really happy at that time.
There was a big crowd in front of my house, who were celebrating my Team India selection. I had never witnessed something like that ever.
Q- How is your relationship with former Team India teammate Ishant Sharma?
Ans- Ishant Sharma is one of my closest friends until now. He along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar from the current Indian side is currently my very close friend.
Q- Who is your bowling idol in cricket?
Ans- Sachin Tendulkar is my idol in cricket and it was a dream come true to share a dressing room with the former Indian legend.
Q- One regret that you have when it comes to cricket?
Ans- Not being able to take the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar is one of my regrets as a pace bowler.
Q- What makes you different from other pacers?
Ans- I focus more on the swing than pace and this is one thing that makes me different from others.
Q- Who is tactically better captain between Steve Smith and MS Dhoni?
Ans- Of course, MS Dhoni is by far the best skipper I have played under. He knows which player will do better looking forward to the playing conditions. I would also say that MS Dhoni always gives chances to the talented players and he gives lots of support to the players irrespective of external pressure.
Q- If you want to pick three dream wickets if you get a chance to play again in IPL? Who will be they?
Ans- Three dream wickets that I would like to take are Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Faf du Plessis
Q- One thing that you would like to change in India’s domestic cricket of India?
Ans- One thing that I will like to bring into focus is wickets that are prepared for domestic cricket games. The pitches should be prepared well keeping batsmen and bowlers in mind. I feel better wickets will produce more quality players for Team India
Q- Which actor should play role in the biopic of Virat Kohli:-
Ans- I would say Varun Dhawan will be a nice actor to play role in Virat Kohli’s biopic
Q- Your favorite actor in Bollywood?
Ans- My favorite actor in Bollywood is Amitabh Bachchan
