Full Name: Krunal Himanshu Pandya
Born: March 24, 1991
HEIGHT: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight: 65kg
Eye Colour: Black
Age: 26
Home Town: Baroda
Nationality: Indian
ROLE: All-rounder, Slow left-arm orthodox Bowler, Left-handed Batsman
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In the year 2016, IPL most successful franchise in Mumbai Indians bought a left-arm spin all-rounder, Krunal Pandya. The world didn’t know much about him until he smacked 37-ball 87 against Delhi Daredevils in his debut season. Hardik’s brother, Krunal too is an all-rounder and more importantly a hard hitter of the ball.
Today, when you look back at Mumbai Indian’s journey in the IPL, the Pandya brothers have undisputedly played an exemplary role in changing the franchise’ fortunes and vice versa.
Interestingly, Krunal Pandya did not even make his debut in the domestic cricket when Mumbai Indians picked him. Nonetheless, he stood up to the expectations and has become one of the integral cog in Mumbai Indians’ wheel.
EARLY YEARS:
A left-arm spin all-rounder, Krunal Pandya hails from Ahmedabad. Krunal love for cricket began during his childhood career. He along with his brother both learned the nuances of cricket at Kiran More’s academy in the city. The duo gradually made a name for themselves in the city, making decent strides in competitive cricket.
Krunal Pandya was born to Himanshu and Nalini Pandya on 24 March 1991. He was from middle-class family. After seeing the potential of a 6-year old Pandya, his father decided to shift to Vadodara, enrolling him in Kiran More’s Cricket Academy. Both the brothers were trained under the watchful eyes of Kiran More and Jitender Singh.
PERSONAL LIFE:
Krunal Pandya is the eldest brother of Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya. He was born on 24th March, 1991 to Himanshu Pandya and Nalini Pandya. He tied the knot with Pankhuri Sharma in 2018.
DOMESTIC CRICKET:
After impressing the cricketing circuit in his debut IPL season, Pandya then made his first-class debut on 6th October 2016. He made a decent contribution both with bat and ball in the 2016-17 Ranji season followed by a stellar performance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He ended up as the leading run-scorer and leading wicket-taker, ending the season with 366 runs and 11 wickets. He averaged 45.75, while striking the ball at 81.33.
He continued his strong show as he once again ended up being the leading run-scorer for Baroda in 2018-19 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He notched up 366 runs in eight matches he played in the tournament. In the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20, he was named as the captain Baroda Cricket Team.
Also Check: Top 5 Innings of Krunal Pandya
INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE:
Not a lot of people knew about Krunal Pandya until he was bought by Mumbai Indians ahead of the 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League for a whopping price of 2 crores. Krunal Pandya played his first game for Mumbai Indians in the year 2016 against Gujarat Lions at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. He ended the game with the bowling figures of 1/20, while scoring 20 runs with the bat.
Since then he has been an integral part of Mumbai Indian’s side. He has played four seasons with Mumbai so far in his IPL career. Overall, he has played 55 matches, scoring 891 runs at an average of 26.20. With the ball, has picked 40 wickets at an average of 28.20.
His debut season with Mumbai was actually his best, where the all-rounder scored 237 runs at an average of 39.50.
INTERNATIONAL CRICKET:
Ahead of the tour to West Indies in 2018, Krunal Pandya was included in the T20 Squad. He made his debut against the Carribeans on 4th November 2018, where he took one wicket and scored an unbeaten 21 off 9 balls. He was then included in India’s T20 series against Australia. He bagged the man of the match performance for his strong show with the ball, claiming 4/36 in 4 overs.
