Guru Dakshina: When Hardik Pandya did a Virat Kohli to surprise his coach

He went to his academy and just took his coach Jitendra Singh, affectionately called Jeetu Bhai to a car showroom to gift him a brand new car. “Hardik had come to meet me after the Australia tour for which he was selected for the first time in India squad. He straight away took me to a car showroom, where he and Krunal (elder brother) gifted me a car,” Jitendra recollected.

If father’s death and Delhi cricket’s system made the Indian captain a tough cookie, Hardik and his brother Krunal (recently called for T20s in England) did go through a lot of hardships during their junior days.

The legend has it that there would be days when Hardik and Krunal, would train two sessions a day in intense heat and only a famous brand’s instant noodles for meals. “They should pay me now that I have made them famous,” Hardik said in jest during a recent web show on youtube. A naughty Hardik was introduced to cricket on the insistence of former India wicketkeeper Kiran More, who was then training his elder brother Krunal at his academy.

A restless Hardik would accompany his brother and More decided to channelise his energies into something constructive. “I am originally from Surat. But since the cricket facility was better in Baroda, I decided to shift with my family as we were then thinking about Krunal’s cricket. Krunal started the training under Kiran More and seven-year-old Hardik used to accompany him at the academy. Kiran Sir (More) asked him to come to his academy and didn’t even charge my boys any coaching fee,” father Himanshu told PTI on Monday.

But there are two stories about how seeds of a fast bowler was sown. Jeetu bhai and Pandya senior have their own stories. “He was a leg spinner till the age of 18. However Baroda’s coach at that time was Sanath sir (former Karnataka seamer Sanath Kumar). He once told Hardik to bowl at the nets and he clocked around 130 kmph. Sanath sir told him to bowl another delivery and he was even quicker. Sir then told him to pursue fast bowling,” claimed Himanshu.

“However Jitendra also worked a lot with my son. He would monitor his bowling for hours at the nets.” However, his coach Jeetu bhai recalled a junior level match where he filled in for an absent cricketer.

“Once during an U-19 match, I had only one fast bowler in the side as others were playing for Baroda Ranji and U-23 tournaments. Hardik was a leg-spinner. I asked Hardik to bowl with an aim to get him take the shine off new ball.
And Hardik took five wickets in an innings. He was more effective than the genuine fast bowler, who was bowling from the other end. Sanath Kumar sir also saw Hardik during the same time and supported his endeavour to bowl quick.”

“In the same season, Hardik was given an opportunity to play for Baroda in T20s, where he performed well and from then he never looked back,” Jitendra said proudly.