The Indian Premier League (IPL) has always been associated with names like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni, given that these three have featured in every edition of the tournament. However, one name has always flown under the radar despite having some longevity as one of the three legends. Who’s that player, you ask? Well, it’s Manish Pandey. The right-handed batter has been involved with some franchise or another in every edition of the T20 tournament, and on Sunday, he achieved a special feat, joining an elusive list featuring Kohli and Rohit.
On Sunday, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) decided to bring Manish Pandey into the playing XI in place of Ramandeep Singh for the contest against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. With this, the 36-year-old made his first appearance in the 2026 edition of the IPL.
Pandey is now just the third player in the history of the tournament to feature in at least a game in each of the 19 seasons of the IPL. The right-handed batter achieved the feat before MS Dhoni. The former CSK captain is currently on the sidelines due to a calf strain, and no one really knows when he will return to the playing XI for the five-time champions.
Speaking of Pandey, he has been a long-time servant for KKR, and how can one forget his match-winning knock in the 2014 IPL final against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings).
He has played 174 matches in his IPL career so far, scoring 3942 runs at an average of 29.42. Pandey is also the first Indian to score a century in the tournament, achieving the feat in the 2009 edition, scoring 114 off 73 balls for Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Deccan Chargers. He has represented KKR, RCB, Lucknow Super Giants, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Capitals in the tournament.
What happened at the toss?
For the contest between KKR and SRH, Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first. KKR made two changes to their playing XI, bringing in Finn Allen and Pandey in place of Tim Seifert and Ramandeep.
At the toss, Rahane said, We wanted to bat first as well. Those breaks so far have really helped us as a team, re-coupling and thinking about what we did right and from an improvement perspective. As I said in the last game as well, it’s all about winning those moments, small, small moments in this format.”
“The game can change here and there within an over. It’s all about being present, being slightly proactive and also winning those moments. I thought those breaks, so far, definitely helped. We’ve got two changes,” he added.
KKR are currently in the eighth position in the points table with seven points from eight matches.