3 Teams Which Can Target Manish Pandey In IPL 2022 Auction

Manish Pandey was under scrutiny this season after showing a lack of ability to up the scoring rate and it will be interesting to see if he is retained in the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad. More than the ability, it was the mindset and the intent he showed which was dismal and seemed to be very low on confidence.

He was benched for a few games despite being among the runs this season and the management’s decision wasn’t welcomed by the fans and the former skipper David Warner. Considering that the mega auction takes place next year, here are 3 teams that can target Manish Pandey in IPL 2022 Auction.

3 Teams Which Can Target Manish Pandey In IPL 2022 Auction:

Rajasthan Royals:

Rajasthan Royals have been a team that relies too much on the overseas contingent in their squad and they do not have many quality Indian batsmen who have a lot of experience in the IPL. Manish Pandey is an Indian international and is one of the best fielders in the tournament and will definitely be on the radar of the Royals franchise.

Pandey can open the batting or play at three which gives room for Samson and the other overseas batsmen to play one position below. Manish Pandey’s overall career strike rate in IPL is 121.8 which is the only area he might have to improve on and he is a match-winner with the bat when he gets going. He can make things happen for Royals who have been looking for their second IPL title for a long time now.

Punjab Kings:

Punjab Kings have two Indian batsmen of the highest quality with the likes of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal and they are expected to be retained by the franchise if the mega auction takes considering the Karnataka duo has done really well at the top of the order. They have lacked experienced IPL campaigners after the openers, and Manish Pandey might be the perfect foil for them.

Pandey can bat at three or four where they had generally used Chris Gayle who might have played his last IPL season. With the Indian openers, and Pandey to come after that, the batting order looks more potent and could be much effective too. Punjab Kings should go for the Karnataka lad in the mega auction with his amazing numbers in his IPL career.

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Manish Pandey was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise from 2014 to the 2017 edition and he won the IPL for the franchise in the final against Punjab in the 2014 edition. He scored a brilliant unbeaten 94 which paved the way for a KKR win in a massive chase and Pandey was at his prime best at the moment.

He is a class batsman and the Kolkata Knight Riders have lacked depth in their Indian batting. The likes of Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi have been far more inexperienced and inconsistent too. Pandey might be the need of the hour for the franchise and if he bats in the top order, then it makes it easy for the destructive middle order of Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell to unleash their power-hitting at the back end.