Ishwar Pandey Thread

[rkt.india]

Small towns, big dreams

Cricket throws up fascinating stories. The travails of the protagonists as they chase dreams can be as engrossing as on-field heroics. Young Varun Aaron wanted to bowl fast. His inspiration? An Antiguan great named Andy Roberts, who blended extreme speeds with exceptional control. Aaron’s father made him watch old videos of Roberts’ exploits and the lad had made up his mind — he would strive to bowl quick. Images of stumps being knocked down flashed across his mind. Ishwar Pandey began playing the game on the dusty streets of Rewa, a small town in Madhya Pradesh. And he did so with a tennis ball, making it swing and bounce, and picking up wickets by the dozen. At that point, all Pandey desired was to enjoy the game in its pure, undiluted form. Playing representative cricket was farthest from his mind. Talent spotted Out of nowhere, a talent scout spotted him and soon Pandey was making heads turn when he played in the State under-19 team. He climbed up the rungs in a jiffy. In 2012-13, Pandey was the highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy with 48 scalps from eight matches. He looks at the coming season with optimism. Aaron too surveys the days ahead with hope. Just 23, he already bears the scars of a veteran. Suffering stress fractures of the back on four occasions, he last underwent a surgery on his lumbar vertebrae in London, in February, this year. Clear-headed and focussed, Aaron does not want to compromise on speed. “Pace and reverse swing are my strengths. I still want to bowl fast,†says the young man from Jharkhand, who has operated at speeds close to and beyond the 150 kmph mark. At different stations of their cricketing journey, Aaron and Pandey meet at the MRF Pace Foundation where pace bowling legend Glenn McGrath guides them. Here, they get mentally tougher even as chinks that might have crept into their bowling are ironed out. Aaron played a lone Test for India — against the West Indies in Mumbai in 2011 — scalping three, and then represented India in four ODIs claiming six wickets before a back injury proved a roadblock. “I cannot forget the moment when V.V.S. Laxman gave me my Test cap,†he recalls. After an unrewarding first day on a flat track, Aaron came back strongly and his cherished moment arrived when he had Darren Bravo caught behind the stumps. “I wanted to pitch the ball up to the left hander, move it away, and draw him into a stroke.†The plan worked. This was also a phase when Aaron slipped into bad habits vis-à-vis his action. A front-on bowler, he was now bowling with a mixed action — this put his back under enormous strain — and consequently broke down. The bottom half and top half of his body moved in opposite directions, a dangerous counter-rotation. After considerable work at the MRF Pace Foundation, Aaron has now switched to a semi-open release that has taken the load off his back. He is eyeing a September return to competitive cricket. Says head coach at the Pace Foundation M. Senthilnathan: “The semi-open is the safest and the most injury-free action. The alignment is in one line with a shorter lever. The back-foot landing faces squarish fine-leg and the front foot toe looks down the wicket.†Lively pace The tall Pandey has a high-arm action and bowls at a lively pace around the off-stump. Says Senthilnathan: “He gets the ball to cut off the seam. Pandey hits the deck and bowls between 135 and 140 kmph and probes the batsmen.†The 23-year-old Pandey is pleased at his rich haul last season. He recalls a particular dismissal. “I got the ball to lift and move away from Wasim Jaffer. He was looking to play it to mid-wicket and ended up edging to the slips. That was satisfying.†Son of an armyman, Pandey acknowledges the contribution of his captain in the Madhya Pradesh team, Devendra Bundela, and his fitness trainer at MRF, Rajnikant, in adding weight to his cricketing and physical attributes. In different ways, Aaron and Pandey find themselves at the crossroads of their careers. The days that beckon should be interesting. Cricketing tales hang on slender threads.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/chen-sports/small-towns-big-dreams/article4830065.ece

[FischerTal]

wish them both luck :clap:

[Rocky Balboa]

Mmmm...looks like Aaron has developed a nice belly...can't blame him tho as he was healing his injury.

[div]

In the Irani Trophy ,Pandey was slower than Mithun da.Lively pace :hmmm:

[saneindian]

Pandey will get his big opportunity on the A tour to SA. One to keep track of, bowled some brilliant spells in the last domestic season.

[Prakat]

Why do they all have bellies? Wtf varun?

[tweaker]

Varun Aaoran ,i doubt he will be the same bowler again

[superstar]

nd his fitness trainer at MRF, Rajnikant, in adding weight to his cricketing and physical attributes.

:hysterical:

[King Tendulkar]

He actrually looked ok. Liked what I saw. Just Gayle was ridiculous

exactly:giggle: 4 wickets today. Good prospect

[SLICKR392]

He is a really good Test bowler and so is Shami. As Sab said, these bowlers have got used to pattas. :giggle:

[King Tendulkar]

We keep judging players particularly bowlers based on short formats. Like I said before would you judge Mo farah on a 100m race?? You really cant judge a pacer very well from an IPL season. Bowling in tests requires skills with new ball, older ball, setting up batsman,stamina, consistent bowling in same good areas and heart. Yet as soon as someone gets smacked by gayle in IPL with 20 meter boundaries we are quick to call him rubbish

[gattaca]

heard some good comments from india A coach abt this guy and yorkers in this match. he was our best bowler. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/630767.html

[Old guy]

i was correct he just lost rhythm at end of season and is bowling normally now :) was brilliant in one match against mumbai bowling out swingers with decent pace and bounce ..

[Old guy]

He is a really good Test bowler and so is Shami. As Sab said' date=' these bowlers have got used to pattas. :giggle:[/quote'] haha..unadkat and pandey bowled on some of flatter tracks last season and still did well specially pandey so i had bit of faith in him and then with score board pressure u never know..

[India-KXIP fan]

He's probably another Shami. Shami= No pace + no bounce + gentle outswing(nothing else) = can't even buy wickets, more matches than wickets. Only can get wickets in A team. What's the point of looking for new bowlers when we all know Ishant is going nowhere. First bowler to play 200 tests he will be. All of Pandey, Unadkat, Shami can't get wickets against top 8. No good bowlers the lot of them. All can't even hit 135. :haha:

[vvvslaxman]

Btw the title is to take a dig at Ishant ? lol Ishwar makes his own luck

[gakgupta]

Took another 3 fer in second innings. This guy is very good test prospect....

[vishalvirsingh]

But you cannot shut your shop thinking that and need to continue to bring new blood in the team if old ones dont do. I am not saying Pandey will become world beater but what I have seen of him, he can be a good bowler in longer form, especially, where he can get help from conditions. Even reverse swing is a help due to conditions which Steyn got in Nagpur. Ishant and Zak have done well too when they got reverse swing. Dont expect these new guys to become a Steyn. We need a few bowlers who can have a record as good as Srinath and Zak first. Australia pacers looked good because they were quicker and pace can always trouble batsmen especioally Indian batsmen but still could not make a difference. Our pacers did not get to bowl that much which is the biggest issue in India. Until they dont bowl more, how will they learn to take wickets. Still they took crucial wickets whenever required. BK's opening spells bamboozled Aussies even on flat tracks.

I beleive Pankaj Suyal is a better bet than Shammi, pandey and Unadkat..he is a left arm fast bowler and if he is trusted he will give genuine fight to umesh ishant n bhuvi... dont think shmmi and pandey will really challenge bhuvi n umesh as bhuvi is master of swing n umesh is the king of Pace.... pankaj suyal has the pace of UMESH( lil slower) and is a left arm fast bowler.. i bet on him ..shammi mohit n pandey are similiar and can b better than each other depending on who is in rhythm....

[Gunner]

I beleive Pankaj Suyal is a better bet than Shammi, pandey and Unadkat..he is a left arm fast bowler and if he is trusted he will give genuine fight to umesh ishant n bhuvi... dont think shmmi and pandey will really challenge bhuvi n umesh as bhuvi is master of swing n umesh is the king of Pace.... pankaj suyal has the pace of UMESH( lil slower) and is a left arm fast bowler.. i bet on him ..shammi mohit n pandey are similiar and can b better than each other depending on who is in rhythm....

Pawan Suyal

[MCcricket]

Suyal, Pankaj, Shami, Pandey deserve a go , Suyal is fast n others are f/m also can move the ball, all can hit the bat n hurry the batsmen on occasions.