Although Gyanendra Pandey got only two matches at the international level, he served Uttar Pradesh cricket creditably for nearly 20 years. The ODIs he played were against a strong Pakistan side in 1999 and Pandey failed to earn himself a regular place in the side. In the domestic cricket, though, he proved to be a stodgy and cannily useful customer. He started off as a left-arm spinner and a lower-order batsman, but improved his batting over the years to become an important part of the UP middle order. In 2005-06, when UP surprised everyone to win the Ranji Trophy, he put all his experience to bail UP out from a couple of tough situations. A season later, 5348 runs and 165 wickets in 117 first-class games to his name, he announced retirement from first-class cricket.
