Standing with Rahul Dravid at slip for RCB was surreal, asserts Manish Pandey

As a 19-year-old bursting onto the scene, Manish Pandey made everyone sit up and take notice in the 2009 edition of the Indian Premier League when he became the first Indian to score a century in the IPL, playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore. The time spent with the Bangalore-based side, after spending a year at Mumbai Indians, remained one of the best experiences for the Karnataka lad, who always dreamt of playing alongside Rahul Dravid, his idol. He did that a few times at Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy and RCB in the IPL and Pandey revealed that he cherished the moment he spent with Dravid while fielding at the slip cordon.

"When I was a kid, I used to look up to Rahul Dravid. I was always a big fan of his. The way he was disciplined towards his game and life, that was really good. When I was playing Under 19, I used to love to watch him bat. He used to stand in the first slip and I was standing in the second slip (while playing for RCB). That feeling was very surreal,” Pandey told Cricbuzz.

It was during his first season with the franchise from his home state when Pandey hit that unforgettable 114* off just 73 deliveries against a Deccan Chargers line-up that had the likes of Ryan Harris, RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha. He was at the top of his game, but it might not have been possible if not for Anil Kumble’s decision to promote himself to the opening slot. 

"Somebody got injured or we'd lost a couple of games, Anil Kumble was the captain of the team. After the practice session, he comes up and says in Kannada, 'Are you ready'? Something clicked and I said: 'Anil bhai, I'm ready for tomorrow'. 

“And then again after two minutes he turned up and said, 'You might be opening the batting tomorrow'. It was like a small shock to me." The confidence level, the way I was thinking about the game, all of those little things did change after that hundred. It would have given me immense confidence,” Pandey revealed.