Flashback: When Hardik Pandya surprised his coach Jitendra Singh

Hardik Pandya has been hogging all the limelight ever since he has taken his maiden five-wicket haul against England on Sunday. He registered the figures of 5/28 in the six-over spell itself and caught the opposition off-guard who didn’t expect to bowl him so well after playing him out easily in the first couple of Tests. Despite all the bashing, the captain and the coach kept faith in him and the youngster has delivered exceptionally well.

Pandya is definitely a player who rose from the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was picked in the Indian team for the first time after shining for Mumbai Indians (MI) in his maiden season and the most important aspect of his game was he was the fast bowling all-rounder which urged the selectors to push him one level up straightaway. He was a raw player clearly when he travelled Australia for 3 T20Is in 2016 which was his maiden assignment and bowled a number of wides in his first over.

Fast forward two years and he is improving superbly and with all the backing he’s got, the lad is really doing well in all the formats. He is also trying to adapt his game in the longest format which was visible in the first innings at Trent Bridge as he played 52 dot balls during his 58-ball stay for 18 runs.

Surprised his coach Jitendra Sharma

However, the reason he is representing India today is all because of his coach Jitendra Sharma. After returning from Australia in 2016, Hardik Pandya went to his academy and took him to a car showroom in order 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 recalled the moment according to the New Indian Express.

Both the brothers used to train hard to make it to the national side and both of them finally made it to the same squad in the recent England tour. Hardik has become a permanent member of the national side and Krunal Pandya was also selected as an injury replacement in the T20I series. Though he didn’t play any game, he must have soaked in the dressing room atmosphere and spent valuable time with his brother.

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