The youngster, who originally hails from Nainital, Uttarakhand, has made Bangalore his home to further his cricketing career and is based there since his school days.

Pandey was a member of the Indian squad that won the under-19 World Cup. That helped him get a berth in Karnataka's squad but the results were not that flattering, just two half-centuries in the debut season.

But against the Deccan Chargers, he made sure that once he got his eye in he did not let go of the opportunity.

For the record, it was the first century by an Indian in the IPL, an unlikely one, but coming from someone who made the most of the opportunity given to him.

Sanath Jayasuriya, Adam Gilchrist, Brendon McCullum, Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey and Shaun Marsh, had recorded centuries in the first edition while Abraham de Villiers and Manish Pandey have scored in IPL 2009.