Hardik Pandya was born on October 11, 1993, in Choryasi, Surat, Gujarat, to Himanshu Pandya and Nalini Pandya.
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.
His mother, Nalini Pandya, was a homemaker.
Pandya made his “Twenty20 International” debut for India on January 27, 2016, at the age of 22, picking up two 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.
Pandya made his “One Day International” (ODI) debut for India against New Zealand on October 16, 2016, at Dharamshala.
He became the fourth Indian to be named player of the match on his 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.
He was named in the squad that toured Sri Lanka in July 2017 and played his first Test on July 26 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. He also set the record for scoring the most runs in a single over of a Test inning for India, scoring 26 runs.
This century was his first century in international cricket.
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 Chris Jordan (England | Bowler).
Hardik became the first Indian to take four wickets and score above 30 runs in a T20I in the same match.
Before the IPL 2022 mega-auction, the Mumbai Indians let go of Pandya. He was then picked up by the freshly formed Ahmedabad franchise, the “Gujarat Titans,” where he was appointed as their captain.
Under his leadership, the “Gujarat Titans” clinched their inaugural IPL title in 2022, making Pandya the first captain since Shane Warne to achieve this feat in the team’s debut season.
On July 17, 2022, Pandya bowled his ODI career-best 4–24 against England at Old Trafford. His 71 runs scored during the 2nd inning 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.
India won the “ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.”
Hardik played quite a few important cameos down the order, including a very important one against England in the semifinals.
In the final against South Africa, his bowling brilliance, including a crucial slower delivery to dismiss Heinrich Klaasen, and his decisive final over, dismissing Kagiso Rabada while conceding only 8 runs, secured India’s victory and cemented his place in Indian cricket history.
In all, he scored 144 runs in the tournament at an average of 48 and a strike rate of 151.57. With the ball, he took 11 wickets, including 2/24 against arch-rivals Pakistan.