'Would love to be back playing for RCB': Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Forgotten Hero Seeks Comeback

Back in 2008, scoring a century in a T20 game was considered a momentous achievement and used to be a rare phenomenon. This is partly the reason why Brandon McCullum's century, that he scored against RCB for KKR in the inaugural match of the IPL, would still be fresh in the minds of several cricket fans. When it comes to T20 centuries and IPL 2008, the memory lane still spews out that no Indian was able to get to the three-figure mark in the debut season of IPL. However, history was made in the second season by a young revelation from Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

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Manish Pandey Open to Returning To RCB

Manish Pandey's unbeaten 114 against Deccan Chargers (Now defunct) in IPL 2009, became the first century by an Indian in the Indian Premier League. Pandey was 18 then, and now after gathering a world of experience, having played for 7 franchises, he is open to returning to RCB.  Pandey, who started his cricketing career with Karnataka, admitted that he would "love to be back."

"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 told TV9 Kannada.

Manish Pandey was Mumbai Indians pick in IPL 2008 but made it to the squad of RCB a year later. He spent two successful years there, before moving to Pune Warriors India in 2011. He joined Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014, where he played an instrumental role in the franchise's journey to its second trophy win. His formidable knock of 94 in the final against KXIP that year adjudged him the man of the match. Pandey's first KKR stint came to an end in 2017. He then joined Sunrisers Hyderabad and following that his career has endured a downward trend. He has had some unsettled stays in LSG and DC following that. Currently, Manish Pandey is a part of the reigning champions KKR.