RCB's Manish Pandey became first Indian to score IPL century on this day in 2009
Pandey's brilliant knock consisted of 10 boundaries and 4 maximums. The Karnataka cricketer remained unbeaten on the day as he scored his first IPL ton.
- SportFit
- 2 min read
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On this day in 2009, Manish Pandey became the first Indian cricketer to score a century in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Pandey smashed 114 off just 73 balls to help his team post a massive total in the first innings. Pandey's brilliant knock consisted of 10 boundaries and 4 maximums. The Karnataka cricketer, who remained unbeaten on the day, scored his maiden IPL century against the now-defunct team Deccan Chargers. Pandey scored his only IPL century with a strike rate of 156.16, which was also the second ton of the season as AB de Villiers had already hit the first century of IPL 2009 against Chennai Super Kings almost a month ago.
After winning the toss against Deccan Chargers, RCB skipper Anil Kumble had elected to bat first. RCB lost Jacques Kallis early on in the innings but Manish Pandey remained on the crease and steadied the ship for the Bangalore side. While he kept losing wickets at the other end, Pandey didn't succumb to the pressure and went on to score a century. Roefel van der Merwe scored 23 off 18 and Indian skipper Virat Kohli remained unbeaten at 19 off 9 before RCB put up a competitive score of 170.
In return, Deccan Chargers kept losing wickets at regular intervals, with only Herschelle Gibbs scoring a half-century from the side. In the end, Kumble and Balachandra Akhil shined with the ball and picked two wickets each to restrict Chargers to 158/6 in 20 overs. Pandey was adjudged the player of the match for his contributions with the bat.
Pandey in IPL
Manish Pandey is one of the few Indian cricketers, who are still playing in the Indian Premier League since its inception in 2008, including MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma. Pandey, who currently plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad, has 3,431 runs in the IPL from 151 matches. He averages 30.35 with the bat and has a strike rate of 121.78. Pandey has been playing some great cricket in the IPL for the past couple of seasons. In 2020, he scored 425 runs in the league, his highest since 2008. Pandey was looking good in IPL 2021 before the BCCI called off the tournament due to the COVID-19 crisis. On the international front, Pandey is likely to be inducted into the Indian squad that will travel for one-day series against Sri Lanka.