Ishwar Pandey, a former Chennai Super Kings pacer has revealed that had MS Dhoni shown more trust in him, he could have gone on and played for the Indian team. Under MS Dhoni, several uncapped players went on to play for India and some didn’t. He was responsible for a number of promising players realizing their dream of playing for the Indian team.
Even as captain of Chennai Super Kings, MS Dhoni realized the true potential of talented youngsters and gave them opportunities, most of whom received an India cap on the back of terrific performances in the IPL such as Mohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath, and Ravichandran Ashwin to name a few.
Ishwar Pandey Feels His Career Would’ve Been Different Had MS Dhoni Given Him A Chance To Play For India
However, there were a selected few, who despite doing well for CSK, failed to make India cut. One of them was pacer Ishwar Pandey, who on Monday, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
The 33-year-old picked up 18 wickets from 25 matches in his IPL career but had excellent numbers in first-class cricket with 263 wickets in 75 matches. However, the closest Ishwar Pandey could come to an India cap was when he was picked in the Test squad for the tour of New Zealand in 2014.
Ishwar Pandey revealed that had MS Dhoni showed a little more faith in him and possibly given him a few chances, his career would have panned out differently.
“If Dhoni had given a chance, my career would have been different. Then I was 23-24 years old and my fitness was also very good. Had Dhoni given me a chance and I would have done well for the country, my career would have been different for sure,” Ishwar Pandey was quoted as saying.
Ishwar Pandey played his final First-Class match against Kerala in March this year and finished his career with 263 wickets from 75 matches averaging 25.92 with best bowling figures of 8/84. In T20s, he played 71 matches and took 68 wickets with the best bowling figures of 4/20. In List A cricket, he picked 63 scalps from 58 games with a best of 4/42.
Ishwar Pandey said that things would have been different had MS Dhoni given him a chance. MS Dhoni was his captain when he was picked in the Indian squad for the tour of England and New Zealand in 2014-15, but he failed to break into the playing XI.
Ishwar Pandey Thanked Rising Pune Supergiants And Chennai Super Kings For Selecting Him
The fast bowler from Madhya Pradesh had represented CSK and Pune Warriors in the IPL and was also a part of the MP squad that won the Ranji Trophy for the first time ever.
“Though I was not fortunate enough to play a game for my country but still to be a part of the Indian team will always be the most special memory of my life,” Ishwar Pandey wrote in his retirement post on Instagram.
“I would like to thank RPSG and CSK for further selecting me. To be a part of the CSK team and to play IPL finals and win the Champions League was special. I absolutely loved my time playing for CSK for 2 years under the guidance of MSD and Stephen Fleming.”
The 33-year-old has played 25 games in the cash-rich Indian Premier League. Hailing from Madhya Pradesh, Ishwar Pandey took 18 wickets to his name averaging 32.83. He registered his best bowling figures of 2/23 and maintained an economy rate of 7.68. Ishwar Pandey played for CSK in 2014 and 2015 after representing Pune Warriors in 2013.