da dobrowin： Manish Pandey’s attacking century in the final underlined his transformation from a no-name cricketer to a worthy contender for a place in the national squad
da bet7k： Siddarth Ravindran in Mysore14-Jan-2010Eight months ago, Manish Pandey was a no-name cricketer who had flopped at the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, failed in his first domestic season, and been a fringe player in the inaugural IPL. Then came the out-of-the-blue century for the RoyalChallengers Bangalore, and his profile skyrocketed.That innings contained plenty of miscues and clear-the-front-leg slogs tomidwicket, leaving skeptics wondering whether he could cut it infirst-class cricket. Pandey’s response was emphatic: a country-high 882runs in the season, not many of which came from fill-your-boots innings onflat tracks with the game dead.Pandey has turned into Karnataka’s Mr Fix-it. He grabbed the headlineswith a belligerent194 in the season-opener against a strong Uttar Pradesh after his team were 27for 3. There was the 72-ball 67to shepherd Karnataka to a stiff 241 to get five points againstSaurashtra. And the vital 115to drag his side past Punjab’s first-innings total, an effort that secured a spot inthe semi-finals for only the second time in 11 years.Perhaps to bulldoze any lingering doubts, he was set his sternest test inthe final: to chase the stiffest ever target in the title clash, againstthe 38-time champions on a pitch helping the seamers, with the top-orderfolding meekly and the rock-steady Rahul Dravid watching the game at home.Pandey nearly pulled it off in an exhilarating counterattack that shouldpropel him into the bunch of contenders eyeing a spot in the nationalsquad.A solid defence and resolute temperament underpin his flashystroke-making, all of which were on display at the Gangothri Glades.Aavishkar Salvi had nabbed him for a first-ball duck in the first innings,but this time three of Salvi’s first four deliveries were dispatched toboundaries. The lack of runs from his partner, G Satish, also didn’taffect him, as he continued to attack whenever the opportunity presenteditself.Mumbai coach Praveen Amre had spoken about Pandey’s tendency to play alittle loosely outside off, and that nearly cut short Pandey’s innings on44, but the nick hit wicketkeeper Vinayak Samant on his wrists instead ofgoing into his gloves. He watchfully defended for a few overs after thatbefore unleashing perhaps the shot of the innings: an authoritativefront-foot pull to midwicket off the quickest bowler of the match, AjitAgarkar, to raise his half-century.Karnataka started the fourth day needing 203 more runs. Instead ofworrying about the number of wickets that tumbled in the mornings over thepast three days, he just continued to blaze away. Agarkar was taken forthree boundaries in an over, and there was no slowing down in the ninetieseither, staying there for only four deliveries. A periscopic hit to fineleg brought up an unforgettable century. But with Karnataka still a longway off, there were no extravagant celebrations, just a calm wave of thebat to the dressing room and the fans after removing his helmet.As the number of runs required shrank, Mumbai started to look ragged. Anon-drive from Pandey off Ramesh Powar just about eluded mid-on and had Salvi onhis backside after he sprinted across from midwicket, only to get a hand onthe ball and see it trickle for four. A quick single to mid-on off thenext ball got an extra run after the direct-hit ricochet away from thefielder backing-up. The vociferous crowd was sure Karnataka were headingto a historic victory.It was not be, though, as yet again Mumbai found a way to break theopposition. Iqbal Abdulla, who had bowled all of two overs in the match,managed to get one to turn away from Pandey and take the outside edge to adelighted Jaffer at first slip. Pandey could only watch from the pavilionas his team-mates were wheedled out and Karnataka’s wait for a Ranji titlecontinued.The IPL innings gave him his ticket out of anonymity, and today’s effortwill guarantee him a place in the ones-to-watch list of the nationalselectors. “I rate this innings equally with my IPL hundred, both came inimportant matches,” he said. “Mumbai is the best side in domestic cricket,so it was very satisfying to get a hundred against them.”