KKR Star Shines for Mysuru Warriors With an Unbeaten Half-Century, Keeps IPL 2026 Retention Hopes Alive

Captain Manish Pandey shone with the bat for Mysuru Warriors during a match of Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 2025 tournament against Bengaluru Blasters in Mysore on Monday.

Manish Pandey leads from the front in Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 2025

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star scored an unbeaten 58 runs from 29 balls to help Mysuru Warriors post 180/5 after opting to bat first. It was an entertaining knock from Manish as he slammed four fours and as many sixes.

The veteran batter walked out to bat at a crucial time for Mysuru Warriors. The Mysuru Warriors were in a spot of bother at 71/4 after the dismissal of Lankesh KS in the 10th over. The hosts went into further trouble after they lost Harshil Dharmani in the 12th over, leaving the team at 94/5.

However, Manish found a reliable partner in wicketkeeper-batter Sumit Kumar (44), who hit two fours and one six. The duo shared an unbeaten 86-run partnership for the sixth wicket.

In reply, the Bengaluru Blasters were 22/3 in the third over at the time of writing this report. The visitors lost openers LR Chethan (8), Rohan Patil (10) and the No.4 batter Bhuvan Rahu (0). Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Mayank Agarwal (2*) was one of the unbeaten batters at the time of writing this report.

Manish Pandey’s IPL 2025 season with KKR

Manish Pandey was acquired by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 75 lakh. This meant that the Karnataka batter returned to the franchise he represented from 2014 and 2017.

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However, the 35-year-old game time was limited as he only got to play three matches in IPL 2025. He scored just 92 runs at a strike-rate of 141.53 this season. Going by his performance in IPL 2025, it remains to be seen if Manish will be retained by the three-time champions ahead of IPL 2026. However, his batting display on Monday should definitely give him a chance of retention for IPL 2026.

Overall, the right-handed batter has played 64 matches for Kolkata Knight Riders and has scored 1576 runs at a strike-rate of 127.81. This includes just four half-centuries.

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