NEWS
Hardik Pandya! everybody knows his name from either the huge six-hitting force he is or the infamous Koffee with Karan controversy. However, there is a lot more to this tall lanky all-rounder that is being said today.
Born in a down-to-earth-family, Hardik has always dreamed to make it big! and maybe it is this dream of him that has made him the bowling all-rounder and finisher that provides the perfect balance not only to the Indian Cricket Team but to any team he plays for.
While many may disagree, Hardik Pandya showcases a maturity beyond his age. And we are not saying that. Let his story do the talking!
Today Hardik Pandya is India’s own Caribbean-powered big hitter!! Today Hardik Pandya is India’s seam bowling all-rounder since the legendary Kapil Dev. Comparing this ambitious Gujarat boy with a legend might seem a little premature.
But if his upward graph continues the upward descent like his ever-towering sixes, nothing is stopping him.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Hardik Himanshu Pandya |
| Age | 27 years (as of 2021) |
| Sport Category | Cricket |
| Date of Birth | 11 October 1993 |
| Hometown | Vadodara, Gujarat |
| Height | 1.83 m |
| Networth | 57 crores |
| Spouse | Natasa Stankovic |
| Parent | Himanshu and Nalini Pandya |
| Children | Agastya |
| ODI Debut | 16 October 2016 Vs New Zealand |
| Test Debut | 26 July 2017 Vs Sri Lanka |
| T 20 Debut | 26 January 2016 Vs Australia |
| Batting Style | right-handed |
| Bowling Style | right-arm (medium) |
| Teams Played for | Baroda cricket team, Mumbai Indians |
Born on 11 October 1993 in Surat, Gujarat into a financially challenged family, Hardik was never interested in studies. Hardik and his elder brother Krunal were enrolled into Kiran More’s Cricket Academy in Vadodara by their father Himanshu Pandya. Hardik was only five then.
He dropped out of school in the ninth grade and started focussing on Cricket. The Pandya brothers used to travel by second-hand car to train while the family lived in a rented apartment.
Hardik made a lot of progress in Junior Cricket and single-handedly won a lot of games for his club. However, his ‘attitude problems’ meant he was dropped from various state age-group teams. While others called it an attitude problem, Hardik terms it as “expressive”.
Until 18, Pandya was a leg spinner. However, his coach Sanath Kumar convinced him to turn to fast bowling, and hence paving the way into the fast bowling all-rounder that provides the perfect balance to team India.
Hardik Pandya joined the Baroda Cricket team in 2013. His Ranji Trophy debut is not so memorable. He scored 1 and 3 in two innings against Madhya Pradesh. He bettered with the ball. Pandya balled 3 overs conceding 11 runs as Baroda picked up a massive victory by 246 runs.
Hardik made his List A debut for Baroda against Gujarat in the Vijay Hazare trophy on 8 November 2014. He scored a massive inning of 69 from 61 balls at a strike rate of 113.11. He hit 6 fours and 2 maximums as Baroda set 314 runs.
On his Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy debut against Mumbai on 13 March 2013, Hardik did not get a chance to bat. With the ball, Hardik conceded 22 runs in 3 overs as Baroda won by 33 runs.
Pandya and Baroda went on to pick their second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Pandya finished the tournament with 219 runs at an average of 31.28 and strike rate of 102.33.
In the 2015-16 edition, Pandya finished as the highest runscorer with 377 runs in 10 matches at an average of 53.85 and strike rate of 130.90. He scored 3 half-centuries including his high score of the tournament of 86*.
Hardik’s blistering form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy ensured he received his first India callup in the Australian tour. In his first match, he picked up 2 wickets in 3 overs and took one catch as India cruised to a 37-run victory.
In the following match, Pandya picked 1 wicket in 2 overs and took the important catch of Shaun Marsh as India won the series. While he did not get a chance to bat, Pandya’s contribution with the ball made sure he was retained for Sri Lanka’s tour of India.
Pandya’s first destructive innings with the bat for India came in the Asia Cup 2016. Pandya hit 31 of 18 balls to help India post a respectable score against Bangladesh. With the ball, he picked the wicket of a set Sabbir Rahman and secure the win.
In the second game against arch-rivals, Pakistan, Pandya bowled his best figures of 3 for 8. Hardik’s performance as a fast-bowling all-rounder caught everybody’s eyes as he chipped in with 5 wickets.
In a 2016 World Twenty20 match against Bangladesh, 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 was achieved in the 3rd and final Twenty20 International against England on July 8, 2018. With the bat, Pandya scored 33* in 14 balls.
He became the first Indian to pick 4 wickets and score over 30 runs in the same T20I match. Further, hitting the winning six of Chris Jordan in the final over gave him the finisher tag. More importantly, India had found their long-term replacement for MS Dhoni in the finisher role.
Pandya made his ODI debut against New Zealand in Dharmashala on 16 October 2016. He won the Man of the Match on debut with his 3 for 31 in 7 overs with the ball and becoming the only fourth Indian to do so.
In his first ODI innings with the bat, Hardik scored 36 from 34 against New Zealand. Pandya rose as a batsman in the ODI series against England at home in 2017. In the 3-match ODI series, he scored 40*, 19*, and 56 and picked 5 wickets as India won the series.
Pandya continued his good form in the ICC Champions Trophy as well. In the first match against Pakistan, Pandya hit three consecutive sixes off Imad Wasim in the same over. 76 in 43 balls.
However, he was unable to save India after the top-order’s collapse. Pandya then featured in CricInfo’s ODI XI of 2017.
After serving a ban for his comments on Koffee with Karan show, Pandya returned to the Indian team before 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. On 27 June 2019, in the match against the West Indies, Pandya played in his 50th ODI.
Despite all his power-hitting and aggressive batting style, Pandya has had a decent and steady test career. The Gujarat-born lad was picked up for the Test series against Sri Lanka. He played his first test on 26 July in Galle and scored his maiden test half-century.
In the third test against Sri Lanka, Pandya scored 108 to become the first Indian batsman to score a Test century before lunch.
He also set the record for scoring the most number of runs in a single over of a Test innings for India, scoring 26 runs. Pandya followed it up with a 93 in his next test series against South Africa.
To date, Pandya has played 11 tests, scoring 532 runs in 18 innings at an average of 31.29. He has scored 5 half-centuries and one century.
The Indian Premier League has given the Indian team some real gems and Hardik Pandya is one of them. He was signed by the Mumbai Indians in the 2015 season for a base price of ₹ 10 lakhs.
He received heavy praise from the greats of the game Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting for his all-round performance.
In a game against the Chennai Super Kings, Pandya scored an 8 ball 21, also taking 3 important catches which helped Mumbai win. He was awarded the Man of the Match for his performance.
Tendulkar called him up after the match and said that he would play for India in the next 18 months. Who knew it would come true!
Pandya has snatched many victories for the Mumbai side from the jaws of defeat. In a must-win game against the Kolkata Knight Riders, he scored an amazing 31 ball 61 to help the team cruise through to the final four.
In the 2019 auction, he was retained by the Mumbai Indians for a whopping amount of ₹ 11 Crore along with captain Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.
His performances were vital as Mumbai Indians recaptured the IPL title for the 5th time and became the most successful team.
In the match against KKR, Pandya his personal IPL-best score of 91 in 34 balls at the Eden Gardens as he powered MI to a victory. In the whole season, he scored 402 runs in 16 matches at an average of 44.66 and strike rate of 191.42.
| M | Inn | NO | Runs | HS | Avg | BF | SR | 100 | 200 | 50 | 4s | 6s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 11 | 18 | 1 | 532 | 108 | 31.29 | 720 | 73.89 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 68 | 12 |
| ODI | 60 | 44 | 7 | 1267 | 92 | 34.24 | 1080 | 117.31 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 90 | 54 |
| T20I | 48 | 32 | 8 | 474 | 42 | 19.75 | 321 | 147.66 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 30 |
| IPL | 80 | 74 | 29 | 1349 | 91 | 29.98 | 847 | 159.27 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 86 | 93 |
| M | Inn | B | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Econ | Avg | SR | 5W | 10W | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 11 | 19 | 937 | 528 | 17 | 5/28 | 6/50 | 3.38 | 31.06 | 55.12 | 1 | 0 |
| ODI | 60 | 55 | 2446 | 2267 | 55 | 3/31 | 3/31 | 5.56 | 41.22 | 44.47 | 0 | 0 |
| T20I | 48 | 44 | 803 | 1094 | 41 | 4/38 | 4/38 | 8.17 | 26.68 | 19.59 | 0 | 0 |
| IPL | 80 | 60 | 869 | 1313 | 42 | 3/20 | 3/20 | 9.07 | 31.26 | 20.69 | 0 | 0 |
Hardik Pandya Records
Hardik Pandya is known for his Caribbean style power-hitting in the shorter formats of the game. Ironically, the only century he has scored came in the longer format! And while doing so, Pandya broke a few records as well.
Pandya achieved the feat of most runs by an Indian batsman in a single over, the first Indian to score 100 runs before lunchtime and the fastest century by an Indian batting at number 8 or lower batsman playing for India.
Hardik was born on 11 October 1993 to Himanshu and Nalini Pandya. Himanshu was into a small car finance business in Surat where Hardik and his brother Krunal were born.
A visionary of his kind, Himanshu decided to provide both his son with a better cricket facility and the family shifted to Vadodara.
Hardik was just five years old when Himanshu enrolled both his sons into Kiran More’s cricket academy in Vadodara. The Pandya family would live in a rented apartment in Gorwa.
The Pandya brothers used to travel by second-hand car to the cricket ground far away from their rented home.
In an interview, Hardik revealed both of them would it Maggi for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
“My brother and I used to get Maggi for Rs. 5 and we used to request the gardener to give us hot water and we used to prepare and eat it at the ground for lunch and breakfast, 365 days non-stop.”
With the family business in its worst shape than ever, both Krunal and Hardik stepped up to provide for their family.
“There was no name for the tournament. it was just between villages. I would play for teams like Jhambuja Xi. what was the fascination? Rs 400. My brother used to get Rs 500. For a week at least, life would be normal.”
Today Krunal is married to model Pankhuri Sharma since 2017, and Hardik is an indispensable member of the Indian cricket team and Mumbai Indians.
Dubbed by commentators as the ‘Pandya Brothers’, today they both represent the Indian Cricket team and the Mumbai Indians.
Hardik Pandya married his girlfriend Natasa Stankovic during the lockdown in 2020. Both announced their marriage on May 31, 2020.
Hardik and Natasa were blessed with a baby boy, on 30 July 2020.
Hardik Pandya’s net worth is estimated to be around ₹ 57+ crores. Pandya’s gross salary from the Indian Premier League stands at ₹22.30+ crores. He has personal properties worth ₹ 5.2 Crores and owns two luxury cars worth ₹ 1.5 crores. The car brands owned by Hardik Pandya include Mercedes Benz, BMW, and a recently purchased Lamborgini.
In the year 2019, Hardik was awarded a ‘B’ Grade package worth ₹ 3 crores per year by the BCCI. He was also retained by the Mumbai Indians for a retainer fee of ₹ 11 crores.
Also, in 2019, Hardik featured in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list for the third consecutive year. The all-rounder, however, saw a decrease in his earnings and rank, majorly due to the Koffee with Karan controversy. In 2019, Pandya reportedly earned ₹ 24.87 crores.
Hardik Pandya and fellow teammate KL Rahul appeared on the celebrity guest show, “Koffee with Karan” in January 2019. While conversing with Karan Johar, Pandya revealed how proud he informed his parents about his first sexual encounter, likes to “observe how women move” at parties, nightclubs, and social media.
He further went on to relate himself to a black person saying: “I’m a little from the black side so I need to see how they move”. After the episode was broadcasted, the public termed it is indecent, derogatory, misogynistic, and disgraceful.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended the players’ pending inquiries and recalled them from the ongoing tours.
The duo’s suspension was lifted, allowing them to rejoin the Indian team in New Zealand. He did face some backlash in his brand image. Gillette suspended its brand association with Pandya for its product Gillette Mach2 and Khar Gymkhana of Mumbai canceled his gym membership.
Hardik and Krunal Pandya lost their father Himanshu Pandya on the 16th of January 2021 due to a cardiac arrest.
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