MS Dhoni has many wards under him that have done well for the Indian team. His ability to get the best out of any player is commendable. Even while captaining the Chennai team in the Indian T20 League, he has produced many match-winners. Many of these players have even gone to represent the Indian team. Mohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, S Badrinath and R Ashwin are some of the names.
However, despite performing admirably for Chennai, a select few failed to make the India squad. One of them was fast bowler Ishwar Pandey, who retired from all forms of cricket on Monday. The 33-year-old picked up 18 wickets in 25 matches in the Indian T20 League. He also had 263 wickets in 75 matches in first-class cricket.
Pandey came the closest to an India cap when he was named to the Test squad for the 2014 tour of New Zealand. Pandey revealed that if Dhoni had shown more faith in him and given him a few more chances, his career would have turned 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 bhai given me a chance and I would have done well for the country, my career would have been different for sure,” Pandey was quoted as saying by The Dainik Jagran.
Ishwar Pandey announces his retirement
Pandey finished his career with 263 wickets from 75 matches after playing his final First-Class match against Kerala in March of this year. He appeared in 71 T20 matches and took 68 wickets, with the best bowling figures of 4/20 runs. The Madhya Pradesh fast bowler had previously played for Chennai and the now-defunct Pune team in the Indian T20 League. He was also a member of the MP team that won the Ranji Trophy for the first time in its history.
“Though I was not fortunate enough to play a game for my country but still to be a part of Indian team will always be the most special memory of my life. I would like to thanks RPSG and CSK for further selecting me. To be a part of CSK team and to play IPL finals and winning Champions League was special. I absolutely loved my time playing for CSK for 2 years under the guidance of MSD and Stephen Fleming,” Pandey wrote in his retirement post on Instagram.
