Sharjah: He played an important role in Chennai Super Kings' crushing win over Delhi Daredevils in and IPL match, but pacer Ishwar Pandey says he did not do anything special and it was the fielders who made his effort look better.
Pandey delivered figures of 4-0-23-2 in just his first match for CSK, which the team won by 93 runs, but chose to play it down. "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," Pandey told IPL's official website.
"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," he said. "That's what a good fielding unit does to a bowler. It helps him improve his own performance."
Praising skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Pandey said he felt confident because of him. "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'," the pacer revealed.
Pandey spoke about his experience of being with the CSK players and bowling at some of the team's top batsmen in the nets. "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," he said.
