Hardik Pandya wins hearts with this kind gesture in Birmingham Hotel

Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya might have earned a criticism or two over his performance in Tests but off the ground, the 24-year-old saw himself being praised for making a kind gesture of offering food to anybody who needed it and his act has clearly impressed many.

The incident happened last Monday on July 30, when Pandya entered the team hotel – the Hyatt Regency – in Birmingham ahead of the first Test against England, along with his teammates KL Rahul and Ishant Sharma. As they alighted from a taxi in front of the hotel after returning from dinner and entered it, Pandya was seen walking over to the caretaker’s desk of the hotel and sought a help from a staff member who was on duty. He gave a packet of food which he was carrying with him to the staff member and asked him to serve anybody who needed food.

“This parcel contains food which wasn’t even touched by us when we dined… Please give it to anybody who comes in the hotel’s vicinity asking for food (occasionally happens at night)… It has been packed for that person,” Hardik said, according to The Telegraph India. The hotel staff member was clearly touched by Pandya and said, “I will, of course, Sir… I will.”

Hardik in Edgbaston Test

Hardik Pandya, however, had an ordinary outing in the Test that followed. He went wicketless in the first innings, conceding 46 runs in 10 overs and then could score only 22 when India batted in reply to England’s first innings score of 287.

He didn’t bowl in the second innings and was out as the visitors’ last batsman in the match as they lost the game by 31 runs to trail 0-1 in the series. Pandya scored 31 runs in the second essay and batted with the tail-enders to give India some hope but was caught by Alastair Cook off Ben Stokes.

Pandya, who has often been compared with legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev, is yet to prove that the comparison is worth. He has scored 421 runs in eight Tests so far at an average of 35.08 and taken seven wickets at a strike rate of 87.4 but has often accused of throwing his wicket too early or failing to make a mark with the ball.

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