Manish Pandey may no longer get a chance in ODIs, reckons Virender Sehwag

Manish Pandey has been around with Indian cricket for a while. Many believe that Pandey has been unlucky and has not been given enough chances to prove his worth. Manish Pandey had a golden chance to make a case for himself but the Karnataka batsman turned out to be the worst performer of the series against Sri Lanka. Pandey batted at four in all the three ODIs and had an opportunity to make a big score. However, he could only accumulate 74 runs. Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag believes that Manish Pandey has lost a golden chance to grab a spot in the Indian playing XI, adding that he might have played the last ODI for India.

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“Here was an opportunity for Manish Pandey and even Hardik Pandya for that matter. Both had scored some 15-20 runs so they disappointed me more. In this three-match series, if anyone got the most benefit, it was Pandey. He played all three matches, and got the chance to bat, and on all the three occasions, the situation wasn’t challenging either that he had to accelerate.

“So, I believe Pandey has disappointed me the most. Perhaps he may no longer get a chance in ODIs for India, and even if he does, it is going to be a long time. Since he lost the opportunity to score in these three matches, he’s fallen behind in the pecking order. Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan have scored runs so these two will be considered ahead of him in the middle order,” he said while speaking to Cricbuzz.

It will be interesting to see if Manish Pandey is given a stretch in the T20I series or not. With the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, and Shreyas Iyer, when he returns, grabbing the opportunities with both hands, Manish Pandey’s chances of becoming a regular in India team looks grim.