Manish Pandey revels in spin-friendly Patiala

Manish Pandey revels in spin-friendly Patiala

"We cannot be having a run rate of 2 or 2.5 in an innings," J Arun Kumar, head coach of the Karnataka team, had said before the game against Saurashtra, referring to Karnataka's slow going against Odisha in the previous match.

When Karnataka lost a slew of wickets on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 encounter in Patiala, it was imperative that one batsman stood up and made it count. It was Manish Pandey who turned crisis man, making sure that the runs kept coming, even though wickets were tumbling at the other end. Mixing caution with aggression was Pandey's modus operandi as he ensured that the strike rate was north of three an over. The way he maneuvered the field and the emphasis he laid on keeping the scorecard ticking on a pitch that turned square, could serve as a handy guide to teams struggling to come to terms with playing against spin.

Having been part of the India's One Day International squad against New Zealand and later picking up a finger injury, Pandey's Ranji Trophy appearances in the 2016-17 season have been limited. The game against Saurashtra was only his second match of the current season and Pandey wasn't in great form either leading up to this match. But he did not show any signs of struggle, be it his injury or batting, as he went about his game in a composed manner.

"I've not played on these kind of wickets in a long time. The two days of practice, I took it very seriously because that was something similar to what the match wicket was. To learn from all those things is something you have to do as a batsman. I just stuck to my basics and kept on playing," Pandey said, after the day's play, pleased that his earnest preparations helped him contribute to the team's cause.

However, the problem for both Karnataka and Pandey was that none of the other batsmen could stick around for a substantial period, barring Shreyas Gopal. That there was only one partnership in excess of 50, which was as late as the eighth wicket, further enhanced the value of Pandey's knock as he appeared to be the only batsman who could handle the spinners with ease.

"It was helping the spin bowlers but I thought it was a good challenge. I thought I'd stand out there (for as long as possible). For me batting at No. 4, the plan was to get good partnerships with whoever comes in. That was my goal and I achieved it pretty much. Looks like 200 is a decent score but I would have preferred 250," he reckoned.

"It was a little disappointing," Pandey said, of the lack of partnerships. "The main batsmen staying till the end obviously gives you a little bit of extra advantage. It was a good challenge and it was good to learn from it."

Despite a late start due to fog, Saurashtra could bowl more than 60 overs as they employed spin for as many as 52.1 overs. But in doing so, they let Karnataka off the hook for a while as Pandey, in the company of Gopal, gathered some extra runs that could make a lot of difference in the eventuality of the game. "They could have bowled the fast bowlers a little more in the middle, it was too long a spell for the spin bowlers. Not that they bowled badly but they could have made some changes in between. I guess the captain decided to stick with the spinners. As you saw, the wicket was turning and holding up quite a bit," opined Pandey.

Jaydev Unadkat, who was reintroduced into the attack after a long wait, managed to wrap up the innings quickly as he bagged the vital wickets of the set pair. The Saurashtra left-arm pacer too answered in the affirmative when asked if he should have been introduced earlier. "Maybe yes, that's what I felt as well. in the middle session when the runs were flowing, I could have bowled in that period. I could have bowled 5-7 overs earlier to stop the runs and probably try and get that wicket. I felt that way as well."

"Probably that (the conditions) could have been a factor. Maybe there was a bit more bite from the wicket, and the way the ball was carrying I guess there was something in it in the last session for the fast bowlers," Unadkat said of the four wickets - two of Karnataka and two of Saurashtra - picked up by the pacers. "Having said that I would still say it's a turning wicket. It's just that the spinners have to bowl with some revolutions rather than just releasing it on one area. Bowling on a turning wicket is an art as well for a spinner."

Unadkat, who had words of praise for Pandey's batting efforts, wants his team-mates to follow the example. "The way Manish was playing the spinners, it's what the batsmen should look to do on this wicket. Play late and adjust according to the spin of the ball. He set an example for all the batsmen to play on this wicket. It will deteriorate further in the third and fourth innings. So it should get harder for the batsmen. But that's how it is, on these wickets, that's how the game goes on.

"For the first innings I would say 200 is what we should get. If there is a partnership in the morning, it would say it's still a possibility. Like their batsmen played in the middle session, if we get set and couple of batsmen take the risks and get those runs, (we can get a healthy lead). We have some hard-hitters in the team as well - Sheldon [Jackson] is playing and Jaydev [Shah] is yet to come. The kind of players that we have suits the turning wicket, that's what we saw in the last season as well. So I guess the extra runs would really help us to bring down that advantage off fourth innings."

But for Saurashtra to manage a sizeable lead, they have to do what they haven't been able to so far in the season - for their batsmen to put their heads down, apply themselves at the crease and come up with big partnerships that can take the game away from the opposition. Reduced to the bottom of the Group B table and having no chance of getting through to the knock-outs, the disastrous 2016-17 campaign for the runners-up of the previous season boils down to the fact that their batsmen have failed to put in a collective effort, and Unadkat was in agreement.

"We aren't doing well as a unit at all. We have been bowling pretty well in all the matches, except for one innings or two innings I would say. In the batting, there are a couple of aspects we need to address. No one is really playing their own game and that has to do with the type of advice that they get, probably from the management or the coaching staff. I would say the batsmen aren't in a good space and that needs to change if the team has to do better in the coming games," reasoned Unadkat.