Hardik Pandya Biography
Hardik Himanshu Pandya (born October 11, 1993) is an Indian international cricketer who is the current vice captain of the Indian cricket team in limited overs format. He is the captain of the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. A batting all-rounder who bowls right-arm fast-medium deliveries, Pandya has represented India in all 3 formats. He occasionally plays for his regional team, Baroda, in domestic cricket. He was the vice captain of the Indian team that won the 2024 T20 World Cup, where he bowled the final winning over.
Early years
Hardik Pandya was born on October 11, 1993, in Choryasi, Surat, Gujarat, India. His father, Himanshu Pandya, ran a small car finance business in Surat, which he shut down and moved to Vadodara when Hardik was five to provide his sons with better cricket training facilities. Himanshu Pandya worked as a loan agent in Vadodara. He enrolled his two sons into Kiran More’s cricket academy in Vadodara Lacking finances, the Pandya family lived in a rented apartment in Gorwa, with the brothers using a second-hand car to travel to the cricket ground. Hardik studied at MK High School until ninth grade before dropping out to focus on cricket.
Hardik made steady progress in junior-level cricket, and according to Krunal, “won a lot of matches single-handedly” in club cricket. In an interview with the Indian Express, Hardik said that he was dropped from his state age-group teams due to his “attitude problems”. He added that he was “just an expressive child” who did not “like to hide his emotions.”
According to his father, Hardik was a leg spinner until the age of 18 and turned to fast bowling at the insistence of Baroda coach Sanath Kumar.
Domestic career
Pandya has been playing for the Baroda cricket team since 2013. He played a vital role in helping Baroda win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the 2013–14 season. In January 2016, he slammed eight sixes during his innings, scoring 86 runs not-out, to guide the Baroda cricket team to a six-wicket win over Vidarbha cricket team for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Indian Premier League
Pandya played for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL from 2015 to 2022. Against the Kolkata Knight Riders, in a must-win match for the Mumbai Indians to remain in the playoff race, he scored 61 runs off 31 balls to take the match, earning him his second man of the match award of the season.
Ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction, Pandya was released by the Mumbai Indians. He was then drafted by the new Ahmedabad franchise, the Gujarat Titans, and named captain of the team. He led Gujarat to their maiden IPL title in 2022, becoming the first captain after Shane Warne to lead a team to the title in its first year. In the IPL 2023, Pandya again led the Gujarat Titans to the finals but lost to the Chennai Super Kings by five wickets through the DLS method.
In IPL 2024, Pandya returned to the Mumbai Indians after 2 seasons. He was announced as the captain of the side, replacing Rohit Sharma.
International career
T20Is
Pandya made his Twenty20 international debut for India on January 27, 2016 at the age of 22, picking up 2 wickets against Australia.His first Twenty20 international wicket was Chris Lynn. In the second T20I against the Sri Lanka cricket team at Ranchi, he batted ahead of Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni and hit 27 off 14 balls before becoming the hat-trick victim of Thisara Perera.
In the Asia Cup 2016, Pandya smashed an 18-ball 31 to help India post a respectable score against Bangladesh. Later on, he also picked up a wicket to secure the win. In the next match against Pakistan, he bowled his best figures of 3 for 8, which restricted Pakistan to 83. In a 2016 World Twenty20 match against Bangladesh on March 23, Pandya took two crucial wickets in the last three balls of the match’s final over as India beat Bangladesh by one run.
His career-best bowling figures of 4 for 38 were achieved in the 3rd and final Twenty20 International against England on July 8, 2018. He got 33 not out in 14 balls, hitting the winning runs with a six off Jordan. Hardik became the first Indian to take 4 wickets and score above 30 runs in a T20I in the same match.
In September 2021, Pandya was named in India’s squad for the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. However, Pandya failed to make an impact as expected. He scored 11 against Pakistan, which India lost by 10 wickets. His subsequent innings of 23 against New Zealand did not help to further India’s cause in the tournament, as losing against New Zealand meant India crashed out of the World Cup despite winning big over inexperienced teams like Afghanistan, Scotland, and Namibia.
Pandya was picked as an all-rounder. However, he only bowled 2 overs against New Zealand without picking any wickets and giving away 17 runs. His lack of runs and inability to contribute with the ball led to his dropping from the squad for the T20I series that followed the World Cup against New Zealand.
In June 2022, Pandya was named India’s captain for their T20I matches against Ireland.
On July 7, 2022, Pandya achieved his first T20 international half-century against England at the Rose Bowl ground in Southampton, scoring 51 runs on 33 balls. Pandya also took 4 wickets, making him the first Indian player to record a half-century and take 4 wickets in a single T20 international match.
In April 2024, Hardik Pandya was named the vice-captain of the Indian squad for the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup tournament.
ODI career
Pandya made his One Day International (ODI) debut for India against New Zealand on 16, 2016 at Dharamshala. He became the fourth Indian to be named player of the match on ODI debut after Sandeep Patil, Mohit Sharma and K. L. Rahul. In his first ODI innings as a batsman, he scored 36 runs from 32 balls. In the group stages of ICC Champions Trophy, Pandya hit three consecutive sixes off Imad Wasim in the same over before rain stopped play. On August 18, 2017, in the final of the Champions Trophy at the Oval, he struck a 43-ball 76 in a losing cause after coming in with India at 54/5 following a top-order collapse.
He was selected in the ODI XI of the year 2017 by ESPNcricinfo.
In April 2019, he was named in India’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup On February 27, 2019, in the match against the West Indies, Pandya played in his 50th ODI.
On July 17, 2022, Pandya bowled his ODI career-best 4–24 against England in Old Trafford. His 71 runs scored during the 2nd innings of the same match made him the first Indian player to score a half-century and take 4 wickets in an ODI since Yuvraj Singh in 2011.
Test career
Pandya was included in India’s Test squad for their home series against England in late 2016, but was eventually left out after he injured himself while training in the nets at the PCA Stadium.He was named in the squad that toured Sri Lanka in July 2017 and played his first Test on 26 July in Galle. In the third and final Test match against Sri Lanka at Pallekele, Pandya scored his maiden Test century and set the record for becoming the first Indian batsman to score a Test century just before lunch. He also set the record for scoring the most runs in a single over of a Test innings for India, scoring 26 runs, which was later surpassed by Jasprit Bumrah. This century was his first century in international cricket.
Personal life
Pandya’s brother Krunal has also played for India and the Mumbai Indians. Their father, Himanshu Pandya, died in January 2021 of cardiac arrest.
Pandya got engaged to dancer and actress Nataša Stanković on January 1, 2020; on July 30, 2020, their first child, a boy, Agastya Pandya, was born. On April 14, 2023, the couple renewed their wedding vows in a ceremony in Udaipur, Rajasthan.
Controversy
In January 2019, Pandya appeared with teammate K. L. Rahul on the show Koffee with Karan and made several controversial comments, which were met with immediate public backlash. During the interview, Pandya spoke about how he had proudly informed his parents of his first sexual encounter, which was well received by them. He also proclaimed that he likes to “observe how women move” at high-end bars and nightclubs.
as well as on social media, and then went on to liken himself to a black person, saying, “I’m a little on the black side, so I need to see how they move.”. The public categorized his monologue as indecent, derogatory, misogynistic and disgraceful Pandya apologized for his remarks by saying that he had gotten carried away by the nature of the show.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) responded to the controversy by saying, “It will be considered whether players should even be allowed to appear on such TV shows that have nothing to do with cricket.”The BCCI found the comments very crass, sexist, and cringeworthy and was not impressed by the apology, seeking appropriate legal action into the matter as it was a breach of conduct.
Both Pandya and Rahul were handed a suspension until a pending investigation and were called back from the ongoing tours of Australia and New Zealand.Furthermore, on January 13, 2019, Gillette suspended its brand association with Pandya for its Mach3 razor.On January 24, 2019, after lifting the suspensions on Pandya and Rahul, the BCCI announced that Pandya would re-join the squad for the matches in New Zealand.
In November 2023, Pandya returned to the Mumbai Indians after two seasons with the Gujarat Titans and was later announced as captain of the side, replacing Rohit Sharma. The decision has been a subject of great controversy, and Pandya has been booed by the crowd.
A wiry young lad from a small town in Gujarat, Hardik Pandya, with his tattoos and peroxide highlights, encapsulates the charisma and swagger of the modern-day Indian cricketer. The all-rounder was propelled into the big stage after constant exposure to prime-time television in the form of the Indian Premier League. With a deep voice to go with the confidence and energy and showing no sign of playing it safe, Pandya is the modern icon of audacity on the Indian side. Having gone through the hard grind of domestic cricket, Pandya shot to fame when he was picked up by an IPL franchise—a license to make his talent well-known on the big stage.
As several youngsters do in the modern era, Pandya announced himself to the world during the IPL, portraying his swashbuckling ability to strike the ball, outstanding fielding, and some street-smart bowling that transcends the cliché ‘just rolls his arm over’. He made the world sit up when he soaked up the pressure and came good in crunch situations, playing a pivotal role in the Mumbai franchise’s second title triumph and winning two Man of the Match awards on his way.
The Indian public and critics, who never fail to make comparisons, immediately had the inevitable question at the tip of their tongue: Had India found their first fast-bowling all-rounder since Kapil Dev?
Despite being predominantly noted for his explosive batting, Pandya is no slouch with the ball. In fact, it was his all-round skills that caught the attention of the T20 franchises during the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament, culminating in a national contract. Pandya’s merit was duly rewarded when he was named in India’s ODI squad for the home series against New Zealand in 2016.
By this time, he had worked on his swing bowling skills and was hitting the 140s regularly, troubling the batsmen with his nagging length. In fact, having been a part of the 2016 World T20,
Pandya defended an equation reading ‘2 to win off 3’ against Bangladesh, bowling back of a length and short on a slow-ish wicket, and keeping India alive in the tournament as a result.
Pandya is relatively new to the Indian team and has already played some excellent knocks with the bat in ODIs, sealing off some tight run-chases and scoring quick runs when required. With the ability to surge when required and target a particular bowler, he has pulled off 20-run overs in pressure situations and remains a vital cog in the ODI fold. With an ageing MS Dhoni shifting into a sheet anchor mode rather than his usual swashbuckling mode,
Pandya is a crucial factor in the team and can form a vital pairing with Dhoni by batting around his stability as his apprentice to finish off games.
His technique, however useful in ODIs, isn’t the best for non-true wickets, and if he chooses the path of Test cricket, he needs to make himself more compact and solid in terms of batting fundamentals.
His bowling has taken giant strides, as he has perfected the art of swing and has figured out the optimal trajectory for his speed as well as how to impart maximum lateral movement on the ball.
Regardless of whether Pandya is India’s next Kapil Dev, he certainly brings a much-needed balance to the side. If he remains grounded in the midst of all the glamour and shapes his game under the able guidance of his seniors and coaches,
he is destined for greatness. As of right now, it will be fascinating to watch the exuberance of blending with the maturity that comes with experience as the nation looks up at this charismatic young talent in its quest for those elusive overseas wins.
After a grueling 2018, Pandya has come out a more mature cricketer, starting from his happy-go-lucky 93 in Cape Town to his 5-for and half-century in India’s only win in the Test series against England. Pandya’s bowling, particularly in Tests, has come a long way, with his extra bounce from a back of a length and particularly his ability to swing the ball away from the right-hander.
Despite not bowling the best deliveries at times, he does seem to have an uncanny knack of dismissing set batsmen, perhaps even established batsmen. His batting, although extremely aggressive, still needs a lot of work
as he continues to exhibit a single-dimensional, all-out attack mode to his batting—an approach that has often failed in more bowler-friendly conditions.
After a mixed year of glory and heartbreak, Pandya was hampered by a severe back injury during the Asia Cup in 2018, which ruled him out of the tour of Australia. To make things worse, he received a lot of flak when an episode of a talk show aired in India, in which Pandya, along with Rahul, were called out for their misogynistic comments about women and were suspended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India for poor conduct and tarnishing the image of Indian cricket.
The ban has been lifted since the incident. Pandya, however, returned to the side after a lot of internal conflict on the board for the ODI series against New Zealand and performed admirably, particularly with the ball and in the field. He remains a vital cog in India’s 2019 World Cup plans, providing a much-needed balance in the side as India finally manage to get their hands on a fast-bowling all-rounder for the first time since the Great Kapil Dev.