Kolkata Knight Riders assistant coach Shane Watson heaped praise on Manish Pandey for making a crucial contribution with the bat which helped the purple-and-gold brigade avenge its defeat to Mumbai Indians and remain alive in the IPL playoffs race.

Batting for the first time in the season, Pandey made 45 on a tricky pitch as KKR chased down 148 at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday (May 20, 2026).

Watson said the experienced Indian was in good touch. “I’ve worked with him previously at the Delhi Capitals for a couple of seasons. This is the best I’ve seen him bat over the last few years. He’s been batting so beautifully,” Watson said.

“He adds so much value to the team. He’s a super experienced guy, an amazing fielder, adds so much energy to our group. He’s still one of our fittest, one of our best fielders. The way he’s looking after himself, his preparation coming into this tournament as well, shows that he’s still got a number of years of good cricket in front of him,” Watson added.

Watson said KKR missed Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who was substituted due to a concussion, during the chase. “Unfortunately, the collision that he [Raghuvanshi] had with Varun Chakaravarthy meant that he ended up having some neck pain, a bit of dizziness and a bit of a headache within a couple of overs of that as well. We certainly missed him from a batting perspective.”

On Varun’s injury, Watson said, “Obviously he’s playing through a bit of pain, which just shows how brave he is.”