Background
Pandey was born in Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh, and made his state under-19 debut during the 1991-1992 season, aged 16.
Pandey was born in Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh, and made his state under-19 debut during the 1991-1992 season, aged 16.
On debut, Pandey opened the batting with Jai Yadav, and finished with 209 not out from a team total of 536/7 declared, with his innings lasting 545 balls and taking 676 minutes (over 11 hours) to complete.
A right-handed opening batsman, he was selected to make his senior debut for Madhya Pradesh in January 1996, against Uttar Pradesh during the 1995-1996 Ranji Trophy season. Despite his debut performance, Pandey would go on to play only five more first-class matches, two more during the 1995-1996 season and then three the following season. In the ten innings after his debut, he recorded only 95 runs at an average of 9.50, with a best of 24 against Railways.
Pandey did also play twice in the Ranji one-day competition, scoring 46 against Railways in October 1996, but he played no further matches for Madhya Pradesh after the 1996-1997 season, finishing with an overall first-class batting average of 30.40.
Of the fourteen players to score a double century on their first-class debut, only Norman Callaway (one match) and Arthur Maynard (two matches) had shorter careers.