Manish Pandey, who on Friday helped India reach a commendable total while batting at sixth in the fourth T20I at the Wellington Regional Stadium on Friday, has said that he has no choice but to adjust and prepare himself to bat at the position.

“I have no choice. I have to be good with it. I have to start preparing my mind as a no. 6 batsman because normally I bat up the order, no. 3 or no.4. Here, with the competition up the top, you just have to wait for your chances,” IANS quoted Pandey as saying at a press conference after India’s Super Over win over New Zealand in the fourth T20I in Wellington.

An excellent fifty from Manish Pandey powered India to 165 for 8 in 20 overs. Pandey scored runs 50 runs off 36 balls. His blitzkrieg innings included 3 fours. Also, his 47-run partnership with Shardul Thakur helped India escape out of a tricky situation after they were reduced to 88/6. Meanwhile, KL Rahul, who scored 39 off 26, was the second-highest run-scorer for India.

“Today was the opportunity and I’ve been preparing myself as to how to bat at no. 6 and what kind of shots I can play, what kind of bowlers, and how many overs are left. It’s not an easy position to bat at no. 6, where you know you are the last main batsman and you have to play with the bowlers if anything happens up the top. That’s what happened today. I was pretty clear about my role.

“I just have to play those two’s, look to rotate the strike. I’ve been working on that and today I thought it came off really well. If you want to bat at six, then you have to be pre-ready. The game is already set for you at no. 6 and you just have to sometimes go and perform at the speed that the previous batsmen have set for you,” Pandey said.

After defeating New Zealand in the super over in the third T20I, India made the Kiwis endure a similar fate in the following game of the five-match series. The hosts failed to score seven runs in the final over of the innings and lost two wickets to drag the match into a super over.

The Blackcaps scored set India a target of 13 runs for India to chase in the deciding over before the latter got home with ease as Rahul scored 10 off 3 balls and skipper Virat Kohli gave the finishing touch.

“It has been our motto, not only for these two matches, that till the time the last ball is bowled, we won’t give up any match. If you play with that intent you will get matches like these where you might get a Super Over, and you win from there,” Pandey said.

“And now we have an opportunity to make it 5-0 and it will be really amazing to do that. Come the fifth match, we will look to go 5-0 up, that is our plan. Nobody has done it before and especially India has not done it before. So, I think it will be a great start to do that.”