Manish Pandey: I want to play for India for a long time

Manish Pandey said he wanted to put his best foot forward and try to cement a spot in the Indian team. © BCCI

Manish Pandey got his maiden call-up to the Indian team when he was named in the Twenty20 squad for the one-off T20I against West Indies. The youngster, who was delighted with his selection, said he wanted to put his best foot forward and try to cement a spot.

"Undoubtedly, today is one of the best days of my career. You wait for that chance to don the India colours. That's why you play the game and want to perform at the best of your abilities. Since the door has finally opened for me, I want to make best use of it and play for the country for a long time," Pandey told PTI.

He was also part of the Indian team, led by Virat Kohli, that won the Under-19 World Cup in 2008. Since then, Kohli has established himself as a key player in the Indian setup while Pandey has had to wait for a long time for a break. When asked about it, the 25-year-old said: "Virat evolved beautifully since that U-19 World Cup in 2008. He grew as a cricketer and he deserved to play for India much earlier than anyone else. He was completely ready to play for India at that time. Having said that, I don't think it's fair to draw a comparison between myself and Virat."

Pandey came up with a match-winning innings of 94 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 final for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). The talented batsman said this performance gave him a lot of confidence and self-belief.

"Obviously, this year's IPL performance was a big plus for me. I was in good form and was consistent. The IPL final was a big platform and I was happy to have contributed in KKR's winning cause," said Pandey, who was second-highest scorer for the Knight Riders with 401 runs at an average of 30.84 and a healthy strike-rate of 117.94.

"The best part about scoring in the IPL is the quality of bowling attack you play through the entire tournament. It's of international standard and when you score runs against the top bowlers in world cricket, you know that you have the ability. That helps in building confidence and self-belief," he added.

Pandey has often been criticised for being too aggressive and showing a tendency to throw his wicket away after a good start. However, the elegant right-hander, who has played 57 first-class and 62 List-A matches apart from 106 T20s, does not want to change his style of play.

"Look, I have a particular style of batting and the idea is to remain aggressive as a player. I would never ever trade anything for that. I like playing my shots and will stick to that," Pandey said.

Pandey was in superb form during the 2008-09 season of Ranji trophy. He scored loads of runs including a big hundred in the final, which Karnataka narrowly lost to Mumbai. "I was in the probables for the World T20 that year. Now that I have got an opportunity, I am determined to make best use of it," he concluded.