11 Interesting facts about Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya is the elder brother of Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya who has made his debut for India recently in Australia in T20I series against Australia. This year can prove to be a golden year for the Pandya family as Hardik has already been selected in India’s World T20 team and today Krunal was picked by Mumbai Indians for IPL 2016, the same team which his brother represents. Though he is not yet a big name in India’s domestic circuit, he has done enough to emerge as a surprise pick in the auction. Here are some interesting facts about Krunal Pandya:

1. Birth:

Krunal Pandya was born on 24th March 1991 in Ahmedabad.

2. Personal background:

He was born in Ahmedabad but to help his children make a better career their father moved to Vadodara in 1999. Currently, Pandya brothers live in Baroda.

3. Batting and bowling style:

He is a left-hand batsman and slow left-arm orthodox bowler.

4. List A debut:

He made his List A debut in Ahmedabad in a match against Gujarat on November 8, 2014, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He made his T20 debut on March 26, 2013, against Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at Indore.

5. Coach:

He has taken his coaching under former Indian cricketer Kiran More and Jitender Singh.

6. Rising talent:

He has picked up 16 wickets in 15 T20 matches and scored 167 runs at a strike rate of 138.01 which shows that he has the talent to perform at higher levels.

7. IPL team:

He has been picked up by Mumbai Indians for INR 2 crores in the auction which is 20 times his base price of 10 lakhs and 20 multiples of his brother’s contract.

8. Stint at the Kiran More Cricket Academy:

Krunal’s family was based in Surat with his father running a successful car business. But having looked at his 6-year-old son Krunal enjoy the game so much, he decided to shift base to Baroda since Surat had no good cricket opportunities back then. He joined the famous Kiran More Cricket Academy there.

9. Krunal brings luck to Hardik:

While Krunal was into cricket since childhood, Hardik wasn’t. It was when Hardik was just playing around when Krunal was practising, that Kiran More spotted Hardik and asked him to come for practice from the next day.

10. Shoulder injury:

Hardik made giant strides in his career but Krunal had to take a long halt due to a shoulder injury. It was the same injury that kept him out of action last year. His last competitive game prior to the IPL this season was in March 2015.

11. Strong Willpower:

After the injury, Krunal decided to be more disciplined in his life. He decided to quit all unwanted things in his life. He decided he won’t smoke and now he doesn’t.

He was sold for 4.5 crores in the IPL 2016 Auction. Who is Murugan Ashwin? – 11 Interesting facts about Murugan Ashwin