India’s and Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Manish Pandey is happy with the addition of Trent Boult and Chris Woakes, as he said their inclusion will bolster KKR’s squad for the forthcoming season 10 of VIVO IPL.
During the recently held IPL auction in Bengaluru, Gautam Gambhir-led KKR splurge more than nine crore collectively to glide promising talents at their helm.
Speaking to reporters during Karnataka’s campaign for Vijay Hazare Trophy, Manish said Kolkata will benefit a lot from the services of these two players and that they’ll create a lot of difference out there.
“These two players, Woakes and Boult, will be really good. It will be good help to have all-rounders like them. These two players will make a lot of difference for us.”
Pandey, who scored the first century of IPL while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2009, said he is happy to be back in the KKR kit and that he is excited to bat on the Eden Gardens track once again. He added he’ll first analyze the surface and then will imprint his plans for the cash-rich league.
“It’s like coming back home. The conditions don’t really change that much unless it’s a different wicket. Before the IPL, it will be a good start here to see how the wicket is behaving and then take it forward from there.”
Apart from Boult, Woakes, KKR also purchased Rishi Dhawan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Darren Bravo, Rovman Powell, Sayan Gosh, R. Sanjay Yadav and Ishank Jaggi in the 2017 IPL Auction.