Manish Pandey ditches KKR as he eyes RCB move to team up with Virat Kohli

India National Cricket Team batter Manish Pandey has expressed his desire to play for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. He said that as a hometown boy, he would want to play for the franchise of his hometown.

Manish Pandey has been around the Indian Premier League since the inception of the league. The right-hander was part of the Mumbai Indians squad in 2008, and after that, he moved to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2009, making an instant impact on the team.

Pandey played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru for two years. The right-hander made an immediate impact as he slammed a glorious ton in the league against Deccan Chargers (Now defunct). He became the first-ever batter from India to hit a century in the Indian Premier League.

Pandey then moved to Pune Warriors India in 2011 before joining Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014, where he played an instrumental role in the team winning the title. He played a vital role in the final as he slammed 94 in the final against KXIP and won Player of the Match.

After that, Manish Pandey moved to Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2017, but after that, he hasn't been the same as his career has seen a downhill since then. He also played for Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals before joining Kolkata Knight Riders.

Pandey, after playing for 7 franchises, expressed his desire to play for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He said that he, along with every Karnataka player, would want to play for the franchise. Speaking to TV9, he explained:

"As a hometown boy, I would love to be back playing for RCB. Not just me, all the youngsters from Karnataka would love to play for RCB one day".

Manish Pandey is currently part of the Kolkata Knight Riders. He won the title with the team in the India Premier League (IPL) 2024. Although he didn't play many games he played well in the limited opportunities that he got and helped the team register wins.

Manish Pandey's career over the years in the Indian Premier League (IPL)

Pandey has been a veteran in the Indian Premier League. The right-hander has played 171 games in the league and has scored 3850 runs at an average of economy 30 and 121 respectively. He also has slammed 22 half-centuries and has one century to his name in the tournament.

Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 is all set to have a mega auction. There have been various reports that the Board of Control for Cricket in India will be allowing 6 retentions along with 3 RTM cards in the auction. So far, there hasn't been any confirmation by the governing body, but the official announcement is likely to be made soon.

It remains to be seen if Manish Pandey will be retained by the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, ahead of the IPL 2025 or not.