Manish Pandey

The first Indian batter to hit a century in the IPL, Manish Krishnanand Pandey is one of the most stylish yet unorthodox batters going around in the circuit currently. Although the Karnataka batter has not got many opportunities at the international level, he has been a regular face for Karnataka in domestic cricket since almost two decades.

Manish Pandey: Along the Years

Manish Pandey Records

• First Indian to hit a century in IPL

• Highest run-scorer in Ranji Trophy 2009-10

Manish Pandey: Awards and Accolades

• Player of the Match in IPL 2014 for his match-winning 94 against the Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings).

Manish Pandey Career

Manish Pandey has been a reliant middle-order batter who can win matches with his gun fielding.

Manish Pandey Domestic Career

Being a part of a U-19 World Cup-winning team meant that an IPL contract was imminent and Pandey signed up for Mumbai Indians. However, with stars like Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya in the team, Manish Pandey did not get many opportunities, and a year later he moved to his home side Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Royal Challengers Bengaluru) (RCB).

Pandey has since been a vital cog for the Karnataka domestic side. He had a breakthrough Ranji season in 2009-10 with 882 runs, ending up as the highest run-getter including four 100s and five 50s at an average of 63, showcasing his consistency and appetite for runs.

In 113 First-class matches, Pandey has scored 7836 runs with an impressive average of 51.21, which includes 25 hundreds and 31 half-centuries.

Manish Pandey IPL Career

Manish Pandey after winning the U-19 World Cup in 2008 was quickly drafted to a star-studded Mumbai Indians side. He did not get much opportunities there and moved to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) side where he had a breakout year. In the rainbow nation of South Africa during the second edition of IPL, Pandey became the first Indian to hit a century.

He was retained by the franchise for the third season of IPL but was released in the next season after he failed to turn out any performances of note.

The now-defunct side of Pune Warriors India then snapped Manish Pandey in the auctions but the poor franchise did not help Pandey's fortunes as he spent three rather quiet years in the camp.

Pandey was given a new elixir of life in 2014 when he was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders. The Karnataka batsman always had a penchant for scoring on the biggest stage and he came up with a tournament-winning performance for KKR in the finals where he scored a magnificent 94-run inning and overshadowed Wriddhiman Saha's hundred to catapult KKR to a second IPL trophy.

But then came another slump in his form and he was released by KKR. Immediately after his ouster, Pandey was picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a whopping INR 11 crores and was decent with the bat for the Orange Army. He was released ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction and was bought by the newly-inducted Lucknow Super Giants. He was then bought by the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023 auction before returning to the Kolkata Knight Riders’ setup in IPL 2024.

Manish Pandey International Career

Manish Pandey has not gotten enough opportunities to showcase his full potential at the international level, despite being good with the bat.

Manish Pandey ODI Career

In July 2015, six years after that smash-mouth IPL hundred in Centurion, Manish Pandey made his international debut in Harare. He grabbed his opportunity with both hands, scoring 71 in his maiden innings. But the inning that brought him the most favor was a century against Australia in Sydney in 2016.

India was reeling in the pursuit of chasing 331 and Manish Pandey walked in and stroked a breezy unbeaten 104-run knock and took the team to the victory shores. His inning brought him a lot of spotlight and he was dubbed as India's answer for the number 4 conundrum.

However, Pandey was hard done by the selectors when he was left out of the 2019 World Cup team.

He returned to international folklore when a second-string Indian side toured Sri Lanka in July 2021, but could not convert his starts to big innings.

Manish Pandey T20I Career

After making an ODI debut in Zimbabwe, Pandey on the same tour made his T20I debut. He was selected as a replacement for Yuvraj Singh in the 2016 T20 World Cup in India. Pandey played in the semi-final but did not get the opportunity to bat as MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli put on a show and piled up 191 runs against West Indies. However, Andre Russell's exploits ensured that India had to return from the tournament empty-handed and thus Pandey was denied to don the blue jersey in an ICC tournament for India.

Manish Pandey Captaincy

Manish Pandey has captained the Karnataka team and led the South Indian team to glory on two consecutive occasions in the 2018/19 edition and the 2019/20 edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, including a thriller of a final against runners-up Tamil Nadu by a margin of 1 run. He also became the captain with the most number of wins in a calendar year in 2019, which is a world record. 

Pandey had also captained the Karnataka side in the Ranji Trophy and has donned the role of a stand-in skipper for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in place of New Zealand's Kane Williamson in IPL 2021.

Manish Pandey Under-19 Career

Manish Pandey rose from humble beginnings after playing for Mysore in district-level tournaments. Owning to his impressive performances, Pandey was scouted to play for the India Under-19 team in 2008 under Virat Kohli. The team emerged victorious but Pandey remained in the shadows as he did not have the performance to back his exceptional batting skills.

Manish Pandey’s Family

Manish Pandey was born to G.S Pandey and Tara Pandey in 1989 in Nainital, Uttrakhand. His father was an armyman and if Pandey had not excelled in IPL by hitting the first century, he was all set to join the Army. Pandey married actress Ashrita Shetty on 2 December 2019 in Mumbai.

Manish Pandey’s Net Worth

As of 2024, Manish Pandey’s net worth is estimated to be around INR 60 crores or USD 8 million.