Early Years

Hardik Pandya was born on October 11, 1993 in Surat, Gujarat. His father, Himanshu Pandya, ran a small auto finance business in Surat, which he closed and moved to Vadodara when he was five to provide better cricket training opportunities for his sons. Himanshu Pandya worked as a loan broker in Vadodara. He enrolled his two sons in the Kiran More cricket academy in Vadodara. Lacking financial resources, the Pandya family lived in a rented apartment in Gorwa while the brothers used a second-hand car to travel to the cricket ground. Hardik studied up to ninth grade at MK High School before dropping out to concentrate on cricket.

Hardik made steady progress in junior cricket and, according to Krunal, he “won a lot of games single-handedly” in club cricket. In an interview with The Indian Express, Hardik revealed that he was dropped from his state age group teams due to his "attitude issues". He added that he was "just an expressive kid" who "didn't like to hide his feelings."

According to his father, Hardik was a leg-spinner until he was 18 and turned to fast bowling at the insistence of Baroda coach Sanath Kumar.

Domestic Career

Pandya has been playing for the Baroda cricket team since 2013. He played a crucial role in helping Baroda win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the 2013-14 season. In January 2016, he hit eight sixes during his innings and scored 86 runs not out to lead the Baroda cricket team to a six-wicket win over the Vidarbha cricket team for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Indian Premier League

Pandya played for Mumbai Indians in the IPL from 2015 to 2021. Against Kolkata Knight Riders, he scored 61 runs off 31 balls and won the game for his team, earning him his second Man of the Match award of the season.

Ahead of the mega auction IPL 2022, Pandya was released by Mumbai Indians. He was then drafted by the new Ahmedabad franchise, the Gujarat Titans, and was made captain of the team. He led Gujarat to their first IPL title in 2022 and became the first captain after Shane Warne to lead a team to the title in the first year.

International Career

T20Is

Pandya made his Twenty20 International debut for India on January 27, 2016 at the age of 22 and won 2 wickets against Australia. His first wicket from Twenty20 International was Chris Lynn. In the second T20I against the Sri Lankan cricket team at Ranchi, he beat Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni, hitting 27 with 14 balls before becoming Thisara Perera's hat-trick victim. At the 2016 Asia Cup, Pandya cracked an 18-ball 31 and helped India to a respectable result against Bangladesh. He later also picked up a wicket to ensure victory. In the next game against Pakistan, he bowled his best numbers from 3 to 8, which limited Pakistan to 83 Bangladesh for one run. He achieved his best bowling numbers of 4 for 38 of his career in the 3rd and final Twenty20 International against England on July 8, 2018, he got 33 Not Outs in 14 balls and scored the winning runs with a six in front of Jordan. Hardik was the first Indian to take 4 wickets in a T20I in the same match and score over 30 runs.

In September 2021, Pandya was named in India's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. 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 runs. 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 the T20I matches against Ireland.

On 7 July 2022, Pandya reached his first T20 international half-century against England at the Rose Bowl ground in Southampton, scoring 51 runs off 33 balls. Pandya also took four wickets, becoming the first Indian player to score a four-wicket half-century in a single T20 international.

ODI Career

Pandya made his One Day International (ODI) debut for India against New Zealand on October 16, 2016 in Dharamshala. After Sandeep Patil, Mohit Sharma and K. L. Rahul, he became the fourth Indian to be named Player of the Game on the ODI debut. In his first ODI innings as a batsman, he scored 36 runs from 32 balls. In the group stage of the ICC Champions Trophy, Pandya struck three consecutive sixes against Imad Wasim in the same over before the rain stopped playing. On June 18, 2017, in the final of the Champions Trophy in the oval, he struck a 43-ball 76 in a lost manner after finishing 54/5 after a top order collapse with India.

He was selected by Cricinfo in the ODI XI of 2017.

In April 2019, he was named to India's squad for the 2019 World Cricket Championship. On June 27, 2019, in the game against the West Indies, Pandya played in his 50th ODI.

On July 17, 2022, Pandya bowled his best ODI career taking 4-24 against England at Old Trafford. His 71 runs scored in the second innings of the same match made him the first Indian player since Yuvraj Singh in 2011 to score a half-century and take 4 wickets in an ODI.

Test Career

H Pandya was included in India's test squad for their home series against England in late 2016 but was eventually disqualified after injuring himself while training on the nets at the PCA Stadium. He was inducted into the squad, which toured Sri Lanka in July 2017 and took his first test in Galle on July 26th. In the third and final friendly against Sri Lanka at Pallekele, Pandya scored his first testing century, setting the record for becoming the first Indian batsman to score a testing century just before lunch. He also set the record for scoring the most runs in a single Test innings for India, scoring 26 runs. This century marked his first century in international cricket.

Personal life

Pandya got engaged to an Indian-based Serbian dancer and actress Nataša Stanković on 1 January 2020. On 30 July, their first child, Agastya Pandya, was born. On February 14, 2023, the couple renewed their wedding vows in a ceremony in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

Pandya Brothers His brother Krunal Pandya has also played for India and the Mumbai Indians.

Their father, Himanshu Pandya passed away in January 2021, following a cardiac arrest.

Controversy

In January 2019, Pandya appeared on the show Koffee with Karan with teammate K. L. Rahul and made several controversial comments that met with immediate public backlash. During the interview, Pandya talked about how he proudly informed his parents about his first sexual encounter, which was well received by them. He also announced that he liked to "watch women move" in high-end bars and nightclubs and on social media, then compared himself to a black person who said, "I'm a bit of the black side “So I need to see them move.” The public categorized his monologue as indecent, derogatory, misogynistic and shameful. Pandya apologized for his remarks by saying that he was getting carried away by the nature of the show.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) responded to the controversy with the words: "It is being examined whether players are allowed to appear in such shows that have nothing to do with cricket." The BCCI found the comments to be very blatant, sexist and disgusting and was not impressed by the apology and sought appropriate legal action on the matter as it was a violation of behavior. Both Pandya and Rahul have been suspended pending investigation and recalled from ongoing tours of Australia and New Zealand. In addition, on January 13, 2019, Gillette discontinued the brand association with Pandya for its Mach3 razor. On January 24, 2019, after the suspension of Pandya and Rahul was lifted, the BCCI announced that Pandya would be rejoined for the Games in New Zealand.