IPL 2026: Manish Pandey became only the third cricketer to feature in all 19 seasons of the Indian Premier League after being picked by Kolkata Knight Riders for their IPL 2026 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday, May 3, 2026.
The veteran batter, playing his first game of the season, joined Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as the only players to have appeared in every edition of the league since its inception in 2008.
Interestingly, MS Dhoni — who has captained all three in international cricket — remains on 18 seasons, having not yet featured in the 2026 edition.
Pandey, one of the IPL’s most experienced middle-order batters, has represented six franchises in his career but has had a strong association with KKR. He began his IPL journey with Mumbai Indians in 2008 before moving to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, where he made history by becoming the first Indian to score an IPL century. That remains his only hundred in the tournament.
He later played for Pune Warriors India between 2011 and 2013 before returning to KKR, where he enjoyed a successful stint. His unbeaten 94 in the 2014 final played a key role in guiding the franchise to its second IPL title, cementing his place in the side’s middle order.
Pandey subsequently moved to Sunrisers Hyderabad, where he spent four seasons, followed by shorter stints with Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals. He returned to KKR ahead of the 2024 season but has featured sparingly, with Sunday’s game marking just his fifth appearance since his comeback.
Across 162 IPL innings, Pandey has scored 3,942 runs at an average of 29.41 and a strike rate of 121.51, including one century and 22 half-centuries.
On the international stage, Pandey was part of India’s Under-19 World Cup-winning squad in 2008 under Kohli’s captaincy. He went on to represent India in 29 ODIs and 39 T20 Internationals. His last international appearance came in July 2021 against Sri Lanka.
Pandey has scored 566 runs in ODIs at an average of 33.29, including one century and two fifties. In T20Is, he has amassed 709 runs at an average of 44.31 and a strike rate of 126.15, with three half-centuries.