Krunal Pandya made his IPL debut in the year 2016 and has been one of the key players for the side. Krunal”s commitment towards the game in terms of both batting and bowling has been a marvellous one. His role in the IPL 2017 final was the primary reason behind MI”s third title when he was adjudged the Man of the match. He went on to become the highest Paid Uncapped player in the history when he was retained for a whopping 8.80 crores in the 2018 auctions.
As a part of “Kal Ke Sitaare” series by the Mumbai Indians camp, Krunal Pandya opened up the struggles he had undergone from his childhood and the way they motivated him to be a better cricketer. This series was started by the Twitter handle of the Mumbai franchise and primarily focuses on the young cricketers in the camp, their cricket journey etc. Ishan Kishan and Hardik featured in earlier videos and this time Krunal won our hearts with his short stories.
At the age of six, Krunal started playing cricket and his father after watching his performances from the terrace appreciated him and this prompted Krunal to demand a pair of gloves and balls. He also stated that his family had to shift from Surat to Baroda as the former had very less training facilities and wouldn”t suffice for further development in cricket.
Krunal also put forward the support lent by his mom as a part of his cricket life. “My mom would fight with teachers and principal who used to complain that I and Hardik aren”t studying well,” he mentioned.
Krunal spoke on his dad”s role in shaping his career. His dad would travel over 100kms to drop and pick him up per day and would give a bucket of balls to the college boys to give some throw downs to Krunal. He would, in turn, try to bat longer and hit the ball cleanly for a time of 1.5-2 hours. This ability to bat longer helped Krunal to perform better in bigger stages.
Krunal represented his stateside Baroda in under 15, 17 and 19 teams. He went through a rough patch when he was dropped from the U-23 team after a Baroda vs Karnataka game when he got out in a careless manner, trying to save the team from defeat. A couple of years later, things changed and he was bought by the Mumbai Indians and this transition made him feel the sense of accomplishment. He also stated that MI is his “family” and it has been the reason behind the recognition he has in the cricketing world right now.
With his hitting prowess down the order and unplayable deliveries, Krunal is surely an asset to any team he represents. He would be the captain”s trump card in the Mumbai camp right now to defend their title.
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With his consistency, future looks bright for him and we at cricfit wish him all the best in his future endeavours.
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