Manish Pandey came back after 4 match ban slapped on him by the IPL 2011 management. He followed with 2 lackluster performances in IPL 4. In last 2 matches where Pune Warriors needed desperately need this new entry into its playing XI to click, this man was no-show. However no one would suspect the huge batting talent in this Karnataka Ranji Player from Uttaranchal. He will be always be remembered as the first Indian who scored Century in IPL. He was just 19 when scored that unbeaten 114. Heap of praise followed that feat. His domestic performances both with bat and on field have been stupendous for Karnataka.
Being a Karnataka Player he was an obvious choice for Royal Chellengers Bangalore and was taken over from Mumbai Indians. In 2009 season he used the chance given to score a valuable hundred against the eventual champions Deccan chargers. In the season that followed Manish Pandey scored a decent 249 runs.
RCB saw a slump towards a end in the last season though they were once initially very comfortably placed in IPL 3. As the team has some tense moments, support staff and fans were using all the statistics to calculate net run rate which would take them to top 4. While all this was happening Manish’s manager was aggressively contacting other IPL franchises about next season auction. Some concerned cricketers in RCB management who approached Manish for a friendly advice were asked to talk to his manager on a rude note. This virtual action of packing bags before the party did frustrate the management. It’s understandable that a player plans his future but not when the team is up ahead on the hill and can’t concentrate on other issues. He could have done that all along six months after IPL 3.
Unlucky you might call it or he deserved it, IPL management committee came up the rule that unless you play 5 years of domestic cricket i.e the uncapped players can’t be part of the auction. All his plans of roping in a big sum were shattered. He could have either accepted RCB contract or just reject it as he did and go for any other team of his choice. That is understandable as his decision might be based on several experiences with RCB. Before auction it was yet an another mistake to rope in his manager again to deal with several franchises and set up an un-official dealing with who-ever pays the most. RCB who were angered with moves in end of previous seasons were not ready to pay anything more than fixed contract amount suggested by IPL management. This issue came out to later which resulted in a ban of Manish Pandey for 4 IPL matches.
As a previous cricketer I know how such situations like these effect the performances. Their priority should be to play their best cricket, improve and reinforce themselves towards playing for the Nation. In cricket crazy country with a cash rich board “Moolah” will just follow. Young talented cricketers like Manish should realize that they have an easy 10 years to earn anything they want if they keep improving their cricket. With remote talents getting discovered you wouldn’t want to loose to the competition as you shit focus from the game. Looking for small bucks now you would not want to place yourself in embarrassing situations which can effect your performances. The ban and 4 match gap definitely would have some negative effect on his performance this season.
It can be frustrating to see some players few seasons older than him get big contracts. But patience is the key as performing good in this season will be guarantee a big price in auctions to come for which he will become eligible with extra year of domestic experience.I hope Manish performs great for Pune Warriors who are down with 4 losses and wins get big contract next year. Wish him good luck.
Author is an Anonymous source related to one of the teams
No comments:
Post a Comment