He made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in 2010, but it took Pankaj Singh four years to play his second match for India - the third Test against England in Southampton in July. While he didn't take any wickets on debut, the Rajasthan seamer won hearts with his effort. And with the tour to Australia round the corner, Pankaj is focused on making it count Down Under.
Speaking to Mail Today, Pankaj said he is looking at every game as an opportunity to prepare for the upcoming series and wishes that wickets in India were slightly more conducive to pace bowling than the dead wicket at the Ferozeshah Kotla on which the Duleep Trophy final is being played.
"The target is obviously the tour to Australia and making the most of the opportunities that come my way. The Kotla wicket is very tough, nothing much is happening and even the ball isn't moving off the track. So it comes to a point where you go defensive and contain the batsmen and try bowling consistently and hoping that the batsmen make mistakes," he said on the sidelines of the match between South Zone and Central Zone.
"I wouldn't say it is disappointing. But yes, definitely it feels good if it is a sporting wicket and you have something for both bowlers and batsmen. But as we all know, the wicket at Kotla gets slower and lower and you need to wait for the ball to reverse and that is when you can capitalise."
Talking of reversing the ball, he showed what he is capable of on Thursday during a seven-over spell in the post-tea session. Not only did he pick three wickets, he also looked a completely different bowler to the rest of the day.
"If you know the art of reversing the ball, it can be your biggest strength. That is what I focus on when playing on Indian wickets. Sometimes the new ball doesn't do much and even the shine goes after a couple of overs. But the dry nature of the wicket ensures that post tea, the ball starts reversing and that is the moment to make it count," the 29-year-old from Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, said.
Commenting on the lesson he learnt being a part of the Indian team, Pankaj said: "I have learnt the importance of being consistent and bowling in the right areas over a longer period of time. It is okay to experiment during training, but once you are on the ground, you should be sure of what you want and how you plan to dismiss a batsman."
Things could have been very different for Pankaj had Ravindra Jadeja not dropped a sitter off England skipper Alastair Cook in the first innings of the third Test in Southampton. He was tagged as unlucky by every observer, but skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni told him to look forward and not linger on what could have been.
"Well lucky and unlucky isn't the issue as it is a part of the game and you cannot do much about it. But nobody wants that in his first international match. After my debut match, people sympathised with me and I earned the tag of 'Unlucky Pankaj', but Dhoni told me that there is nothing called lucky or unlucky. It matters how honest your effort was and that calmed me down," he said.
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