Wednesday’s win saw the Kolkata Knight Riders pull off a four-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League and assistant coach Shane Watson said the performance of 36-year-old Pandey underlined his value to the side.
Pandey’s 45 off 33 meant that Kolkata recovered from being at 54-3 in their chase of the target of 147 as his innings helped them to a win which oxygenated their chances of making the playoffs.
Watson told reporters: “This is the best I’ve seen him bat for the past few years.”
“He adds so much value. And for sure, he’s a super seasoned dude. He’s an amazing fielder. Whether it’s off the field, on the field, around the group: he brings so much energy to us.
“Those sort of guys, you would do anything to have them in your group, let alone then out in the middle when we’re trying to chase a tough total on that surface.”
Pandey is one of only three players, alongside Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, to have played in every season of the IPL since its inception in 2008.
The former Australia all-rounder said: “I don’t know how he’s doing it”
“Yes, at his age I was 100% running like he is now. He’s still incredibly fit.
I think if you see the state he is in and the way he has prepared coming into this tournament, you would say that (a) number of years of good cricket left in him.
This was Kolkata’s Sophomore in the Champions League innings as they ended the second stage of 6th in the LOG with just one remaining league-stage match on Sunday against Delhi Capitals.
The three-time IPL champions have an outside chance to reach the play-offs but will need to defeat Delhi along with some other results going their way.
An up-to-date story on the IPLVeteran batter Manish Pandey who had fallen out of favour with the national selectors was praised by Shane Watson for his fitness and dedication to improve the game.