The Indian Cricket team have always had a dearth of genuine all-rounders. If one recalls, it is only the legend 1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev that comes to mind who was a true seam bowling all-rounder that India had.
After him, the Men in Blue never found an all-rounder and now the search for a bonafide all-rounder have ceased. Captain Kohli has found his man in Hardik Pandya.
Pandya, a seam bowler and attacking batsman have carved a place for himself across formats of the game. The 25-year-old has played 11 Test matches, scoring 532 runs at an average of 31.29 which includes a century. Along with it, he has picked up 19 wickets with a best of 5 for 28. From being a chocolate boy to a dependable player in Indian Team to his recent Koffee With Karan controversy, Hardik Pandya has seen it all.
Today, in Hardik Pandya’s biography, let’s learn about various facets of his life:
Hardik Pandya Biography
About Athlete | |
Full Name | Hardik Himanshu Pandya |
Age | 25 years |
Sport Category | Cricket |
Date of Birth | 11 October 1993 |
Hometown | Vadodara, Gujarat |
Height | 1.83 m |
Parent | Himanshu and Nalini Pandya |
ODI Debut | 16 October 2016 Vs New Zealand |
Test Debut | 26 July 2017 Vs Sri Lanka |
T 20 Debut | 26 January 2016 Vs Australia |
Early Days
Born on 11 October 1993 in Surat, Gujarat into a financially weak 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 a second-hand car to the Cricket ground while the family lived in a rented apartment.
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Hardik made a lot of progress in the Junior Cricket and single-handedly won a lot of games for his club. Later, he was dropped from the state team due to ‘attitude problems’.
Earlier, till the age of 18, Hardik was a leg spinner but his coach Sanath Kumar insisted him to bowl fast. Right now, he is a fast bowling all-rounder that provides the right balance to the Indian team.
Domestic Career
Hardik Pandya plays for Baroda in the domestic tournaments since 2013. He played an important role in Baroda winning the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the 2013-14 season. In a match at the Wankhede stadium, he scored a blistering 82 off 57 balls when the opposition had the experienced Zaheer Khan and Dhawal Kulkarni.
Later in January 2016, he slammed an unbeaten 86 against Vidarbha. His innings included eight long sixes and Baroda won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match by 6 wickets which earned him an international call.
Also Read: The Motivational Workout Routine of Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya in IPL
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!
View this post on InstagramBack in Chennai for a few days… quite nostalgic! #EpicGame #nostalgia #chennai
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 2018 auction, he was retained by the Mumbai Indians for a whopping amount of Rs.11 Crore along with captain Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.
Also Read: Mumbai Indians’ New Jersey Unveils For the Upcoming IPL Season
International Career
As predicted by Sachin Tendulkar, Hardik Pandya made his international debut on 27 January 2016 in a T20I game against Australia. He picked up 2 wickets in the match. In his next match against Sri Lanka, he batted higher up than Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni and hit a 14 ball 27.
In a World T20I match against Bangladesh, Pandya took two crucial wickets in the last three balls of the dramatic match’s final over as India beat Bangladesh by a mere one run.
Pandya made his ODI debut against New Zealand in Dharmashala on 16 October 2016 and won the Man of the Match on debut, becoming the only fourth Indian to do so. He became an overnight sensation when he struck three back to back sixes against Pakistan’s Imad Wasim in the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017.
View this post on InstagramThis team knows only two things: 1️⃣ Win 🏆 2️⃣ Learn 👊 So proud 🇮🇳 #ENGvIND @indiancricketteam
The Gujarat-born lad was also picked up for the Test series against Sri Lanka. He played his first test on 26 July in Galle and scored his maiden Test century, and became the first Indian batsman to score a Test century just 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.
Career Statistics
| Competition | Test | ODI | T20 | IPL |
| Matches | 11 | 45 | 38 | 50 |
| Runs Scored | 532 | 731 | 296 | 666 |
| Batting Average | 31.29 | 29.24 | 16. 44 | 23.79 |
| 100s | 1 | – | – | – |
| 50s | 4 | 2 | – | 2 |
| Top Score | 108 | 83 | 33 | 61 |
| Wickets | 17 | 44 | 36 | 28 |
| Economy | 3.38 | 5.54 | 8.32 | 9.02 |
| Average | 31.06 | 39.73 | 25.61 | 32.96 |
| Best | 5/28 | 3/31 | 4/38 | 3/24 |
Hardik Pandya Net Worth
Hardik Pandya’s net worth is estimated to be approximately Rs. 10.6 Crores according to Finapp.co.in. He has personal properties worth Rs. 5.2 Crores and owns two luxury cars worth Rs. 1.5 Crores. The car brands owned by Hardik Pandya include Mercedes Benz and BMW. Over the next few years, Hardik Pandya’s Net worth is likely to grow by around 35%.
Favourites of Hardik Pandya
Favourite Cricketers: Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh
Favourite Actor: Akshay Kumar
Favourite Actress: Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor
Favourite Superhero: Superman
Favourite Football Club: Manchester United FC
Favourite Colour: White
Social Media
Here’s how Hardik Pandya’s Instagram handle looks like:
View this post on InstagramOff to NCA to sweat it out 💪🏽 Excited for some good training days in Bangalore ✌🏾
Congrats #TeamIndia 🇮🇳 on this amazing victory 🏆 pic.twitter.com/znBla21Hw1
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) February 3, 2019
Indian Cricket team’s first Test series win in Australia ✅@IndianFootball team’s first AFC Asian Cup finals win in 55 years ✅
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) January 7, 2019
Congratulations to Team India on the historic achievements for Indian sport 🇮🇳 💙 pic.twitter.com/LtYhqiHVA8
Best selfie ever 🤳 pic.twitter.com/dXGpWuV1co
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) December 23, 2018
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