Manish Pandey and Virat Kohli shared a hug after Manish's stunning catch in RCB vs KKR. Image Credit: X/@IPL
RCB vs KKR: It takes an immense amount of fitness and cricketing abilities to play among the best for close to two decades. When it comes to the Indian Premier League and the players who have played the tournament each year, it is Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, or even MS Dhoni, who has not played in IPL 2026, but these three players remain on the minds of every cricket fan. However, there is another name on this illustrious list: Manish Pandey. The right-handed batter, along with Rohit and Kohli, is one of the only three players to have played at least one game in each of the 19 seasons in the IPL.
In Kolkata Knight Riders’ defeat against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Manish once again showed why he is one of the fittest cricketers going around with a stunning one-handed catch to dismiss Tim David. No one could believe his catch, and even opponent batters remained in awe. Moments later, Virat Kohli, who scored his ninth century, shared a hug with his former teammate, and the moment between the two went viral.
It was on the fifth ball of the 18th over, when Manish Pandey took a stunning one-handed catch to dismiss Tim David, leaving the Australian, Kartik Tyagi, Virat Kohli, and everyone else in awe. When David was dismissed, RCB needed 13 runs in 13 balls, and it was almost certain that the defending champions would go on to win the match, and they eventually did, with Kohli hitting his ninth ton. However, even when Manish Pandey took that catch, Kohli could not help himself from appreciating the effort from his former teammate.
Both Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey, having played in the Indian Premier League for 19 years, share a long history with one another. The two batters shared the field for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the first few years of the tournament. It was in 2009 and 2010 when Manish played for RCB. He is fondly remembered for having hit the first century by an Indian batter in the history of the IPL. It was natural for the moment to go viral as IPL’s first Indian centurion and the batter with the most centuries appeared on a single frame.
Manish Pandey was part of the Indian U-19 team that won the tournament under Virat Kohli’s captaincy in 2008. Pandey did not have the best of times in the tournament as he scored only 72 runs in five innings, averaging 24, while striking at 78.26. Meanwhile, Kohli scored 235 runs in six innings, which included a century at an average of 47 while striking at 94.75.
The two players shared the field for the senior team as well. Pandey played 29 ODIs and 10 of those came under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. In the shortest format, Manish represented the Indian team in 39 games. He played 19 T20Is under Kohli’s captaincy. However, despite a few fighting knocks, Manish could never solidify his place in the senior team but remained a prolific run-scorer in the domestic setup.
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Pragun is a passionate cricket follower and writer who deeply loves the game. Having completed his education with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has an experience of almost two years in diverse fields. He is known for his statistical and analytical articles. Pragun tries to bring life to his articles by adding a layer of enthusiasm from the perspective of a hardcore fan. Apart from writing cricket articles, he sometimes appears on YouTube videos on a friend’s podcast.
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