'Pretty sure, if you have a good IPL...': KKR star's huge claim on India comeback ahead of T20 World Cup

Abhijeet Kumar Singh

• Sat • 23 Mar 2024

Kolkata Knight Riders' star batter Manish Pandey in this frame. (X)

Highlights:

Manish Pandey is still hopeful of India comeback.

Manish Pandey believes if he performs well in IPL 2024, he might land himself up in Team India's set-up.

Manish will be representing KKR in the IPL 2024.

Seasoned batter Manish Pandey is determined to reclaim his spot in the Indian cricket team. He'll be showcasing his batting prowess for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after rejoining the franchise for the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.

The Knights secured Pandey at his base price during IPL auction at his base price of Rs 50 lakhs. Pandey's international career began in 2015 on the Zimbabwe tour, but solidifying his place in the national team has proven challenging. The 34-year-old last played for India in Sri Lanka during 2021. Pandey believes a stellar performance with the bat for KKR could be the key to returning to the national team with T20 World Cup 2024 around the corner.

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Manish Pandey hopeful of India comeback

“Yes, definitely. India are playing a lot of games with multiple squads. So I’m pretty sure, if you have a good IPL or a string of good performances, you can come back into the side anytime,” Pandey told Sportskeeda.

“You obviously don’t want anybody to get injured, but that’s how the doors open for any player to make a comeback. But for me, it’ll be important to play good cricket, to start with,” the star batter further said.

Last season, the two-time IPL champions didn't make it to the playoffs, with Nitish Rana stepping up as leader due to Shreyas Iyer's injury. This time around, Iyer is returning to captain the team in IPL 2024. Importantly, KKR has appointed Gautam Gambhir, a former captain, as the team's mentor.

Pandey expressed joy upon reuniting with Gambhir. Previously, Pandey had played under Gambhir's leadership before making a switch. Now, while Pandey is back in the team as a player, Gambhir has returned in the role of a mentor.

“He is somebody who always wants his players to do well. That’s what I’ve learnt from GG. He’s been very passionate about the game and his energy on the field is unmatched. And that’s what we learn as players, when your captain or leader is leaving everything on the field. I’ve made sure I try to replicate that in every game I play,” Pandey concluded.

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KKR open their IPL 2024 campaign at home on March 23 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Eden Gardens.

Coming off a playoff-less season under Nitish Rana's leadership due to Shreyas Iyer's injury, KKR enters IPL 2024 with their star captain back at the helm.

KKR Team's IPL 2024 Full Squad

Wicketkeepers	Batters	All-rounders	Bowlers
KS Bharat	Shreyas Iyer (c)	Andre Russell (WI)	Varun Chakravarthy
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (AFG)	Phil Salt (ENG)	Nitish Rana	Sunil Narine (WI)
	Rinku Singh	Venkatesh Iyer	Vaibhav Arora
	Angkrish Raghuvanshi	Anukul Roy	Chetan Sakariya
	Sherfane Rutherford (WI)	Ramandeep Singh	Harshit Rana
	Manish Pandey		Suyash Sharma
			Mitchell Starc (AUS)
			Dushmantha Chameera (SL)
			Sakib Hussain
			Mujeeb Ur Rahman (AFG)