Manish Pandey in action against New Zealand
Manish Pandey has been chosen ahead of Rishabh Pant to bat in the lower middle order, as opposed to his usual top order position and he said that he has no choice but to adjust and make it his own.
"I have no choice. I have to be good with it. I have to start preparing my mind as a no. 6 batsman because normally I bat up the order, no. 3 or no.4. Here with the competition up the top, you just have to wait for your chances," he said at a press conference after India's Super Over win over New Zealand in the fourth T20I in Wellington.
Pandey scored a crucial half century on Friday that helped India post 165 in their fourth T20I against New Zealand in Wellington. Pandey's 50 off 36 balls and his 47-run partnership with Shardul Thakur bailed India out of a tricky situation when they were 88/6 in the 12th over.
"Today was the opportunity and I've been preparing myself as to how to bat at no. 6 and what kind of shots I can play, what kind of bowlers, and how many overs are left. It's not an easy position to bat at no. 6, where you know you are the last main batsman and you have to play with the bowlers if anything happens up the top. That's what happened today. I was pretty clear about my role.
"I just have to play those two's, look to rotate the strike. I've been working on that and today I thought it came off really well. If you want to bat at six, then you have to be pre-ready. The game is already set for you at no. 6 and you just have to sometimes go and perform at the speed that the previous batsmen have set for you," Pandey said.
This is the second time in a row in this series that New Zealand have collapsed in the final over after a comfortable run chase. While the hosts needed 10 to win off the last over in the previous T20I, in Wellington, they needed just seven and went on to lose four wickets. Pandey said that India will be looking to seal an unprecedented 5-0 series win in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.
"It has been our motto, not only for these two matches, that till the time the last ball is bowled, we won't give up any match. If you play with that intent you will get matches like these where you might get a Super Over, and you win from there," he said.
"And now we have an opportunity to make it 5-0 and it will be really amazing to do that. Come the fifth match, we will look to go 5-0 up, that is our plan. Nobody has done it before and especially India has not done it before. So, I think it will be a great start to do that."
