Hardik Pandya planned to ‘set the stage on fire’ before Australia series, reveals brother Krunal

Hardik and Krunal Pandya play for Mumbai Indians in IPL. (Source: Twitter)

Hardik Pandya’s rise as India’s premier all rounder has been one of the recurring themes of India’s tour of Sri Lanka and their ODI series against Australia. He scored a century on his Test debut against Sri Lanka and his performances with bat and ball earned him the man of the series award in India’s 4-1 rout of Australia.

Hardik earned plaudits from all quarters for his performances and that included his brother and Mumbai Indians team mate Krunal Pandya. “Just before the #INDvAUS series, @hardikpandya7 told me he will set the stage on fire & today I can proudly say, “you did it… and how!”????” said Krunal on his Twitter handle with an image of Hardik with all the trophies that he accumulated in the Australia series.

Just before the #INDvAUS series, @hardikpandya7 told me he will set the stage on fire & today I can proudly say, “you did it… and how!”🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/ORoYAwAhWz

— Krunal Pandya (@krunalpandya24) 1 October 2017

Krunal and Hardik are known to share a close bond. While Hardik’s international career has rocketed between 2016 and 2017, elder brother Krunal has managed 40 appearances for India’s T20I squad but has not been able to find a breakthrough in the ODI and Test squads. Krunal is also regarded as an able all-rounder in the domestic circuit and is a regular in India A matches. His all-round abilities were on display when he became an integral part of the Mumbai Indians side that won the Indian Premier League title in 2017.

Hardik Pandya ended the Australia series as India’s third highest run scorer and third highest wicket taker. India won the series 4-1 riding chiefly on the performances of bowlers Hardik, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. Apart from them, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane stood out with the bat. While Rahane scored half centuries in four of the five ODIs, Rohit Sharma’s blitzkrieg century in final ODI helped them make light work of the 243-run target set for them by Australia.