An adorable video of Hardik Pandya is going viral on social media. In the clip that has surfaced online, Hardik is in a video call with a local cricket selector from his childhood. The India all-rounder could be seen thanking the selector for providing him match fee of Rs 400 during the formation of his career. Hardik, who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm medium pace, entered the cricketing arena from a humble background. He had to deal with financial struggles before his talent and hard work hogged limelight. Hardik made his IPL debut in 2015 and in less than a month, he played his maiden India game.

Watch the video here:

Hardik continued his rich vein of form by smashing five sixes and scoring 28 runs in an over bowled by left-arm spinner Parvez Sultan as Baroda crushed Tripura by seven wickets in a Group B game of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Friday.

Chasing a meagre target of 110, Baroda rode on Hardik’s 47 off 23 balls to complete the task in just 11.2 overs, after elder brother Krunal Pandya did well with the new ball to finish with figures of 2/22.

The highlight for the sparse crowd was the entertainment provided by Hardik as he launched into Sultan, hitting him for three sixes between long-off and extra cover region and another two in the cow corner.

Hardik has had a fantastic Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament so far with contributions in all four wins for Baroda. His sequence of scores read 74 not out, 41 not out, 69 and 47, and he has also picked up a couple of wickets along the way.

The player will be seen leading five-time champions Mumbai Indians once again, in the upcoming India Premier League season. Hardik was retained by MI for Rs. 16.35 crore ahead of the mega auction.

(With PTI Inputs)

The firebrand Gautam Gambhir announced his arrival as India’s head coach by successfully ensuring the ascension of Suryakumar Yadav as the new T20 captain in place of Hardik Pandya, who seemed primed for the leadership role after Rohit Sharma‘s international retirement from the format. India’s six-match white-ball series against Sri Lanka isn’t exactly a run-of-the-mill bilateral engagement for Gambhir, whose mind seems to have aligned with chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar on the issue of captaincy. Both men decided unanimously to make Suryakumar the skipper keeping in mind the next T20 World Cup to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka in 2026.

The series against Sri Lanka is an important precursor to that build-up.

The first T20 International will be held on July 27, followed by games on July 28 and 30. All the ties will be played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

The ODIs will be held on August 2, 4 and 7 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

It was under captain Gambhir, that Indian cricket fans took note of Suryakumar, popular as ‘SKY’, an indulgent acronym coined by the then Kolkata Knight Riders skipper, who would regularly praise the youngster for performing the finisher’s role to perfection.

It is understood that Pandya, the vice-captain of the T20 World Cup-winning squad, who bowled the historic last over in the final against South Africa, was intimated about the decision on Tuesday by both Agarkar and Gambhir about the hard call.

Pandya was also the vice-captain in the 50-over World Cup last year before his injury. With Shubman Gill being appointed deputy in both formats, it is now clear that the selection committee and Gambhir, are keen to look beyond Pandya as a leadership option.

What worked against Pandya was his frequent injury breakdowns. He played only 46 out of the 79 T20I games from Jan 1, 2022. In this period, Suryakumar missed only a few games and that too due to sports hernia surgery.

He led India to a 4-1 win over Australia in a T20I series last November and followed it up with a 1-1 draw in South Africa.

Pandya is nonetheless there in the T20 squad and has opted out of ODIs due to personal reasons.

Afghanistan vs India Live Updates, T20 World Cup 2024: India take on Afghanistan in their opening match of the Super Eight stage. The contest will take place at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on Friday. While the Rohit Sharma-led side stayed unbeaten in the first round by winning three consecutive matches before rain washed out one game, Afghanistan registered three wins on the trot before suffering a defeat at the hands of West Indies. (Live Scorecard | Points Table)

Here are the Live Updates of Afghanistan vs India T20 World Cup Super 8 match –

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