From playing with Ganguly, Dravid, and Sehwag to vanishing after 2 ODIs, ex-India cricketer now finds solace working at SBI: 'I was wrongly accused'

The late 1990s and early 2000s marked a peculiar era in Indian cricket history. With the team grappling with the aftermath of the match-fixing scandal that led to bans for Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja, the newly-appointed captain Sourav Ganguly and the Indian team were in desperate need of fresh talent. While players like Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, and Zaheer Khan rose to legendary status, there were also numerous cricketers who faded into obscurity after a brief stint with the national team. Names like Tinu Yohannan, Iqbal Abdullah, Ajay Ratra, SS Das, Deep Dasgupta, and the forgotten Gyanendra Pandey all had their moment in the sun before disappearing from the spotlight of Indian cricket.

A left-arm spinner and a capable batter, Pandey became a prominent figure for Uttar Pradesh in the Indian domestic circuit, picking up 254 wickets from 199 games spread across First-Class and List A cricket. In fact, in 97 Ranji Trophy matches, Pandey scored 4425 runs and took 148 wickets. After two seasons of scoring more than 400 runs, Pandey entered the national fray, making his India debut in the 1999 Pepsi Cup tri-series featuring Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Pandey shared the dressing room with behemoths Rahul Dravid, Ganguly, Azharuddin and Sehwag – who also made his debut in that series.

Unfortunately, Pandey's career could not take off, and ended abruptly after just two ODIs. He went back to playing for Uttar Pradesh and continued for another 6 years before announcing his retirement. Today, working as a PR agent with State Bank of India, Pandey opened up on not getting a longer rope with the Indian team.

"In 1997, I had put up a good performance. In the Duleep Trophy final, I scored 44 runs and took three wickets. I had an extraordinary outing in the Deodhar Trophy. The North Zone featured Vikram Rathour, Virender Sehwag and Navjot Sidhu. I took five wickets and scored an unbeaten 23. Against West Zone, I scored 89 not out and took 2-3 wickets against East Zone. Against South Zone, scored 28 or 30 not out and 2-3 wickets," Pandey told The Lallantop in an interview.

"In the Challenger Trophy, I dismissed Robin Singh and Amay Khurasiya. For India A, I took two wickets for 26 runs and then got an India call-up. That was in the year 1999."

Did former BCCI secretary bad-mouthed Gyanendra Pandey?

In the 1999 Test series between India and New Zealand, Pandey once again came close to playing for the national team, but as the Lallantop anchor claimed, Jaywant Lele, the then-BCCI secretary, did not approve of the all-rounder's selection. Lele's words, quoting the anchor were 'If Kumble has asked for a break, why not go for Sunil Joshi?' Such a strong-worded opinion from a BCCI official could well have shut the doors on Pandey once and for all.

"Mr. Lele should have thought about what he said. He should have seen my performance. He was an umpire as well. I get it; it was my fault. I didn't know the tricks; didn't understand how these thing work. I couldn't handle it and hence, got defamed. Even the media did not print my side of the story. No one came to ask me anything. They only contacted the top brass," he mentioned.

As part of working in SBI, Pandey admitted that he and his team have received jokes about the bank chain, but they don't read much into it. "We do get them a lot. But it's fine," he said.

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