Manish Pandey

Manish Pandey will always be remembered as the first Indian to score a century in the IPL. In one night, the 19-year-old went from being Karnataka's next big Ranji hope to entering the record books as he hit his way to the highest Twenty20 score by an Indian. That century also meant he would not have to carry out his intention of following his father into the army if he did not make it as a professional cricketer.

But his barnstorming start did not immediately translate into an India call-up and Pandey continued to work his way up in the domestic circuit. His growth as an aggressive middle-order batsman and an athletic fielder coincided with Karnataka's rise as undisputed leaders of the domestic arena in a period that saw them complete the double treble. In July 2015, six years after that smash-mouth IPL hundred in Centurion, Pandey made his international debut in Harare.

Pandey's breakout international innings, however, came six months later in Sydney. In January 2016, his unbeaten maiden ODI century helped India gun down Australia's 330 with two balls to spare and prevent a whitewash. While Pandey was not included in any of the T20 competitions India played in the lead-up to the World T20, he was brought in to replace an injured Yuvraj Singh in the semi-final against West Indies, where Pandey did not bat.
ESPNcricinfo staff

- Manish Pandey made a splash in the second season in Royal Challengers Bangalore colours when he became the first Indian to score an IPL century. That earned him a full run in the playing XI with RCB in 2010, but he could not hit a fifty and averaged less than 21.

- After a lean run with Pune Warriors India, Pandey's career graph went up again after he joined Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014. He saved his best for the last as his match-winning innings of 94 in the final helped the team win their second title. He became a mainstay in the middle-order for the next three seasons.

- Released ahead of IPL 2018, Pandey was picked up by Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 11 crore. He enjoyed a consistent run in the playing XI with SRH making it a habit to reach the playoffs. He hit three half-centuries in each of those four seasons with SRH, but was no longer a permanent fixture in the XI by the time IPL 2021 rolled along.

- Pandey then bounced around teams for the next three seasons - Lucknow Super Giants for INR 4.6 crore in 2022, Delhi Capitals for INR 2.4 crore in 2023 and again KKR for INR 50 lakh in 2024. For both LSG and DC, Pandey failed to make much impact

- He has been a back-up middle-order batter for KKR in 2024 and 2025, and has been used as an impact player to arrest collapses. He played just four games in 2024 and 2025, and was retained in 2026 again.