Hardik Himanshu Pandya (born 11 October 1993)
He 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 Mumbai Indians franchise in IPL. A batting all-rounder who can also bowl right-arm fast-medium deliveries, Pandya has represented India in all 3 formats. He is considered to be one of the best all-rounders in world cricket. He is often stated as a rare talent by cricketing experts across the world and is rarely seen in the cricket field due to injury issues. He currently plays for the Baroda cricket team in domestic cricket and the Mumbai Indians whom he captains in the Indian Premier League (IPL).His elder brother Krunal Pandya is also a professional cricketer.
Early years
Hardik Pandya was born on 11 October 1993 in Surat, Gujarat. 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.[3] He enrolled his two sons into Kiran More's cricket academy[which?] in Vadodara.[4] 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.[3] Hardik studied at the MK High School until ninth grade before dropping out to focus on cricket.[5] Hardik made steady progress in junior-level cricket, and according to Kurunal, "won a lot of matches single-handedly" in club cricket.[4][non-primary source needed]In an interview with the Indian Express, Hardik revealed 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."[6] According to his father, Hardik was a leg spinner until the age of 18 and turned to fast bowling at the insistence of the 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.
International Career
T20Is
However, Pandya failed to make an impact as was 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 allrounder. However he only bowled 2 overs against New Zealand without picking any wickets and giving away 17.
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.[20]
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.[21] 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.
Pandya made his One Day International (ODI) debut for India against New Zealand on 16 October 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.[23] 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 18 June 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.[24]
He was selected in the ODI XI of the year 2017 by ESPNcricinfo.[25]
ODIs
Test Career
Pandya was included in India's Test squad for their home series against England in late 2016,[30] but was eventually left out after he injured himself while training in the nets at the PCA Stadium.[31] He was named in the squad that toured Sri Lanka in July 2017 and played his first Test on 26 July in Galle.[32] In the 3rd and the 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.[33][34][35] This century was his first century in international cricket.
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 from the black side so I need to see how they move".[41][42][43] The public categorized his monologue as indecent, derogatory, misogynistic and disgraceful.[44][45]
Pandya apologized for his remarks by saying that he had gotten carried away by the nature of the show.[46][44]
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 which have got nothing to do with cricket."[47][46][48] The BCCI found the comments as very crass, sexist and cringeworthy,[45] and was not impressed by the apology, seeking appropriate legal action into the matter as it was a breach of conduct.[46][49] 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.[50][43][51] Furthermore, on 13 January 2019, Gillette suspended their brand association with Pandya for its Mach3 razor.[52][53] On 24 January 2019, after lifting the suspension on Pandya and Rahul, the BCCI announced that Pandya would re-join the squad for the matches in New Zealand.