Manish Pandey has etched his name in IPL history. The 36-year-old KKR veteran became just the third player ever—after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma—to feature in at least one match across all 19 seasons of the tournament.

Pandey was drafted into the KKR XI for their ninth game of the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad, replacing an out-of-form Ramandeep Singh. It was a momentous return for a player who had been bought for ₹75 lakh at the auction but hadn't played a single game earlier in the campaign. With Ramandeep struggling for runs, captain Ajinkya Rahane opted for experience over younger options like Tejasvi Dahiya and Sarthak Ranjan.

This was Pandey's first appearance at the top level since last year's IPL. Notably, he was also overlooked by Karnataka for the 2025-26 domestic season, making this comeback all the more special. For context, MS Dhoni (44) could also join this exclusive club if he plays for CSK this season, but he has been sidelined with a calf injury so far.

Pandey's IPL journey is a story of resilience. He began with Mumbai Indians in 2008, then moved to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, where he became the first Indian to score a century in the league back in 2009. After stints with Pune Warriors India (2010-2013), he found his groove with KKR in 2014, scoring 400 runs in a season for the first time and helping them lift the title under Gautam Gambhir.

He spent four seasons with KKR before moving to Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018, then played for Lucknow Super Giants (2022) and Delhi Capitals (2023). He returned to KKR in 2024, playing just one match in their title-winning season and three matches last year.

In Sunday's match, SRH won the toss and elected to bat. Despite explosive knocks from Travis Head (61 off 27 balls, with nine fours and three sixes) and Ishan Kishan (42 off 29 balls), the Men in Orange couldn't capitalize fully, thanks to disciplined bowling from Varun Chakravarthy (3/36) and Sunil Narine (2/31).