Fielders made me look good: Ishwar
CSK’s match-winning debutant acknowledges brilliant catches taken off his bowling
Ishwar Pandey has been living in a dream world. After finishing as the top wicket-taker in the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy, he got a call-up to India’s squad for the New Zealand tour earlier this year. Now, he is part of Chennai Super Kings, one of the most high-profile teams in the IPL.
On his debut for CSK, Ishwar delivered 4-0-23-2 to help them beat Delhi Daredevils by a whopping 93 runs. In a post-match chat with iplt20.com, Ishwar wore a broad smile as any team’s new match-winner should.
He was gracious to acknowledge the role of CSK’s fielders in his own performance and described MS Dhoni’s way of giving confidence to a new bowler. Ishwar also made the tough choice of picking the most destructive batsman in the CSK camp that consists of some of the world’s biggest ball-demolishers.
Here are excerpts from his exclusive interview:
Perfect debut for CSK?
It was an amazing experience. I was playing after a long time and was able to contribute to CSK’s win in my very first game for them. It is a huge thing to be recognized with your performance in a team that is considered to be the best in the tournament.
Both your wickets came with the help of brilliant catches, from Raina and Faf. On both occasions, did you think they will pull it off?
I was actually confident given how brilliant they both are as fielders. We are a great fielding side who had a bad outing in the last match. We were motivated to correct that and it showed in the catches our fielders pulled off today.
As a bowler how much does it affect you to have such excellent fielders around?
I didn’t do anything special with the ball today. It was our fielders who made us bowlers look good. When you bowl a bad ball and your teammates put their bodies on the line to save runs for you, as a bowler, you feel motivated to better your performance and correct your line and length. That’s what a good fielding unit does to a bowler – it helps him improve his own performance.
You bowled out your quota of four overs at the beginning. It this how you will be used in the coming games as well?
That was the plan today, but I haven’t been told it will be my role throughout the tournament. The captain will use me as and when he sees fit, depending on the conditions, my form and the opponents.
Do you think you had JP Duminy lbw in the fifth over?
According to me, he was out. But the umpire didn’t think he was and that’s what matters.
You must have bowled at all the CSK batsmen in the nets. Who’s the toughest to bowl to?
Brendon McCullum hits insane shots everywhere. No matter where you bowl at him, he will plonk you all around in the nets. Dwayne Smith is another very dangerous batsman to bowl to. Without the nets, they are capable of hitting the ball outside the stadium.
MS Dhoni is a captain who gives complete freedom to his bowlers in terms of setting their own fields and forming their own plans. Is it the same for a youngster like you?
Yes, very much. Today, when I went on the field, he told me at once, ‘Tell me whatever field you want and whenever you want to make any changes to it. Feel free to form your own plans and bowl according to them. I am here to facilitate you in every way’.
When I asked Stephen Fleming about the reason to pick Ashish Nehra in the side, he said that CSK wanted a senior Indian pacer who could guide people like you and Mohit Sharma. How has he been in that role so far?
He was absolutely right. These are different wickets for us to play on in terms of pace and bounce. Ashish bhai keeps teaching us small tricks of how to bowl on these wickets, how to make subtle variations and stuff like that.
On his debut for CSK, Ishwar delivered 4-0-23-2 to help them beat Delhi Daredevils by a whopping 93 runs. In a post-match chat with iplt20.com, Ishwar wore a broad smile as any team’s new match-winner should.
He was gracious to acknowledge the role of CSK’s fielders in his own performance and described MS Dhoni’s way of giving confidence to a new bowler. Ishwar also made the tough choice of picking the most destructive batsman in the CSK camp that consists of some of the world’s biggest ball-demolishers.
Here are excerpts from his exclusive interview:
Perfect debut for CSK?
It was an amazing experience. I was playing after a long time and was able to contribute to CSK’s win in my very first game for them. It is a huge thing to be recognized with your performance in a team that is considered to be the best in the tournament.
Both your wickets came with the help of brilliant catches, from Raina and Faf. On both occasions, did you think they will pull it off?
I was actually confident given how brilliant they both are as fielders. We are a great fielding side who had a bad outing in the last match. We were motivated to correct that and it showed in the catches our fielders pulled off today.
As a bowler how much does it affect you to have such excellent fielders around?
I didn’t do anything special with the ball today. It was our fielders who made us bowlers look good. When you bowl a bad ball and your teammates put their bodies on the line to save runs for you, as a bowler, you feel motivated to better your performance and correct your line and length. That’s what a good fielding unit does to a bowler – it helps him improve his own performance.
You bowled out your quota of four overs at the beginning. It this how you will be used in the coming games as well?
That was the plan today, but I haven’t been told it will be my role throughout the tournament. The captain will use me as and when he sees fit, depending on the conditions, my form and the opponents.
Do you think you had JP Duminy lbw in the fifth over?
According to me, he was out. But the umpire didn’t think he was and that’s what matters.
You must have bowled at all the CSK batsmen in the nets. Who’s the toughest to bowl to?
Brendon McCullum hits insane shots everywhere. No matter where you bowl at him, he will plonk you all around in the nets. Dwayne Smith is another very dangerous batsman to bowl to. Without the nets, they are capable of hitting the ball outside the stadium.
MS Dhoni is a captain who gives complete freedom to his bowlers in terms of setting their own fields and forming their own plans. Is it the same for a youngster like you?
Yes, very much. Today, when I went on the field, he told me at once, ‘Tell me whatever field you want and whenever you want to make any changes to it. Feel free to form your own plans and bowl according to them. I am here to facilitate you in every way’.
When I asked Stephen Fleming about the reason to pick Ashish Nehra in the side, he said that CSK wanted a senior Indian pacer who could guide people like you and Mohit Sharma. How has he been in that role so far?
He was absolutely right. These are different wickets for us to play on in terms of pace and bounce. Ashish bhai keeps teaching us small tricks of how to bowl on these wickets, how to make subtle variations and stuff like that.
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