India’s middle-order batsman Manish Pandey has said that on the back of his half-century in the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka, he is looking to cement his spot in the playing eleven.
The visitors won by 168 runs to take a 4-0 lead in the series.
He added, "Then if you keep performing and you keep playing better, then maybe you come one up in the order. So that will be my goal to fix a spot or two for myself, stay there at the end and win games for India."
Pandey's unbeaten knock came off 42 balls, and was studded with four boundaries.
Thanks to Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma scoring attacking hundreds and putting on 219 runs for the second wicket, India made 375/5 after opting to bat. Pandey and Mahendra Singh Dhoni put on 101 runs for the sixth wicket, after a few hiccups in the middle order.
"My mindset was to spend some time on the wicket first, like how many balls I should take initially. I need to take at least 6-10 balls to know what's the wicket like. It was spinning a bit when the middle-order got out but as I said there was a plan to spend some time and eventually it came off well for me. There were wickets falling on the other side but I had to keep my calm and rotate the strike," he added.
India lost their way after both Kohli and Sharma got out.
They lost four wickets for 49 runs, but batting in his 300th ODI, Dhoni helped guide the finishing overs with Pandey. In the afternoon, Kohli had gifted Dhoni a platinum bat-memento to mark the occasion.
"I have played a few games with him already. I know how he plays. I know how he likes to rotate strike. I like to bat with somebody who loves to do that. Occasionally we get some fours and that's how we keep the scoreboard ticking. With Mahi bhai, you are always on your toes and he keeps giving you advice," he added.
One of the key points of this collapse was KL Rahul's failure to score big once again. Batting in the middle order, he has scores of 4, 17 and 7 but Pandey backed him to come good with some advice to boot.
"Maybe as he plays more matches batting in the middle order, he will get used to it. Even I was found it difficult when I was batting at number 6, because I was coming after 40 overs and I was used to batting at number 4 when batting comes after 25 overs. So it always takes time, and the faster you learn and the better batsman you become and I think that's what I have done," said Pandey.
Pandey came into the side on back of experimentation by the team management keeping in view the 2019 World Cup. Kedar Jadhav was left out, and Pandey responded with a well-made half-century to his credit, carrying the form over from the India A tour of South Africa.
"I had a chat with Ravi Bhai yesterday and even today before the start of the game about how I take some time before I start playing my natural game. So that's what my plan was. I got my batting after the 35th over where again one wicket fell and me and Mahi bhai were there.
He said the tour of South Africa helped him a lot.
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