Krunal Pandya not distracted by India A selection as MI eye IPL 2018 play-offs

Mumbai Indians all-rounder Krunal Pandya on Saturday dubbed his India A selection as a step closer to realising his childhood dream of playing for the senior team. He, however, said his immediate priority was to see his IPL team Mumbai Indians make it to playoffs.

With 10 points from 11 games in the tournament, Mumbai Indians have to win all their remaining games if they want to qualify for the playoffs on their own. They face Rajasthan Royals, a team in a similar position, here on Sunday.

“It feels really good. Last year also, after the IPL I got picked for the India A team and I went to South Africa and it was a good tour for me so it feels good actually. The ultimate dream and aim from childhood is to represent India and that is still there,” Pandya said at the pre-match press conference. “I’m happy that I am one step closer to the India senior team. I will try to give my best when I go there (to England) but right now this is an important stage of the tournament in the IPL. I want to do well for MI first and then I will see how it goes.”

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Pandya has been a vital cog in Mumbai Indians’ wheel so far with 11 wickets to his name in 11 games. He has conceded at an economy rate of 7.06. He’s been handy with the bat as well and has scored 189 runs from 10 innings at a strike rate of 152.41.

“I guess we are not thinking about it (the do-or-die situation) because eventually we will be taking it match by match. That’s how we have played from the first game itself. Obviously, the results didn’t come our way in the initial games, but it is not that we were playing bad cricket. We were playing good cricket only. But it was those crucial moments where it didn’t come our way basically,” Pandya added.