6 days ago
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Kolkata Knight Riders adjunct manager Shane Watson heaped praise connected Manish Pandey for making a important publication with the bat which helped the purple-and-gold brigade avenge its decision to Mumbai Indians and stay live successful the IPL playoffs race.
Batting for the archetypal clip successful the season, Pandey made 45 connected a tricky transportation arsenic KKR chased down 148 astatine the Eden Gardens connected Wednesday (May 20, 2026).
Watson said the experienced Indian was successful bully touch. “I’ve worked with him antecedently astatine the Delhi Capitals for a mates of seasons. This is the champion I’ve seen him bat implicit the past fewer years. He’s been batting truthful beautifully,” Watson said.
“He adds truthful overmuch worth to the team. He’s a ace experienced guy, an astonishing fielder, adds truthful overmuch vigor to our group. He’s inactive 1 of our fittest, 1 of our champion fielders. The mode he’s looking aft himself, his mentation coming into this tourney arsenic well, shows that he’s inactive got a fig of years of bully cricket successful beforehand of him,” Watson added.
Watson said KKR missed Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who was substituted owed to a concussion, during the chase. “Unfortunately, the collision that helium [Raghuvanshi] had with Varun Chakaravarthy meant that helium ended up having immoderate cervix pain, a spot of dizziness and a spot of a headache wrong a mates of overs of that arsenic well. We surely missed him from a batting perspective.”
On Varun’s injury, Watson said, “Obviously he’s playing done a spot of pain, which conscionable shows however brave helium is.”
