After Krunal Pandya impressed everyone with his all-round performance in yesterday’s T20 match against West Indies, he revealed about brother Hardik Pandya’s advice for him before his T20I debut.
“We don’t talk much about cricket. We just pull each other’s legs. Before the tournament he told me ‘Go there and keep my name.’ He advised me to play fearless cricket and that’s all he can do,” India today quoted Krunal Pandya as saying.
“The bonding between me and Hardik is exceptional. Whenever he does well I feel happy and when I do well, he feels happy. We are very nervous when each other is playing,” Krunal further said.
The slow left-arm bowler bowled a wicket-maiden during his second over, which was exactly same what Hardik did during his T20 international debut against Australia back in 2016. Moreover, 27-year-old Krunal has done better than his brother on debut, with figures of 15-1 in his four over spell and smashing quick-fire of 21 runs off 9 balls to help India bag the victory. Hardik had figures of 2-37 from his three-overs spell during his debut match against Australia which saw India winning by 37 runs.
Krunal bowled four tight overs and took crucial wicket of Keiran Pollard. His hunger for his debut was seen when he rocked with his batting hitting 21 runs of 9 balls in the end. “I wait for pressure situations and I want tough situations so that I can be a hero. I love it. No butterflies at all. I told myself that I was waiting for this opportunity and I didn’t take pressure,” said Krunal when asked about feeling the pressure on his debut.
“I have been waiting for my opportunities. I was preparing myself and my ultimate goal was to play for India. I was desperate, waiting for this opportunity to play for India. I just wanted to play one game,” he further said.
Earlier before the match, Hardik posted a video for Krunal wishing him luck for his debut. Have a look at the video below.
This is what we’ve dreamed of big bro @krunalpandya24 💙🇮🇳😍😘😘 pic.twitter.com/aY6P1jfAwd
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) November 4, 2018
Hardik and Krunal Pandya have become the second cricketer-brother duo to play for Indian team in T20s after Irfan and Yusuf Pathan.