'It is a story that will encourage others'- Sunil Gavaskar salutes Krunal and Hardik Pandya on Father's Day

Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has heaped massive praises on Krunal and Hardik Pandya for their recent performances and credited the duo for being strong and continuing to play cricket with a lot of determination after losing their father last year. Gavaskar said this after going through the pictures posted by the Pandya brothers on the occasion of Father’s Day on Sunday, June 19.

Krunal and Hardik’s father Himanshu Pandya passed away in January last year due to a cardiac arrest in Vadodara. He played a huge role in nurturing and encouraging his kids’ cricket careers. The cricketers’ late father was also seen in many of their social media pictures and videos. After the first innings of an ODI match against England in March 2021, Krunal Pandya was seen hugging Hardik and crying as he remembered their dad.

This is a fantastic story: Sunil Gavaskar

“This is a fantastic story. For both the brothers, losing their father about a year ago was a big blow. We saw with Father’s Day pictures how close they were to their father and how their father had helped them grow as cricketers. To be able to come out of that and play the way both brothers have is a story that will encourage a lot of others,” said Sunil Gavaskar while speaking to Star Sports.

After both were released by five-time winners Mumbai Indians after IPL 2021, Krunal was roped in by the new franchise Lucknow Super Giants while Hardik Pandya was bought by the other new entrants and the eventual champions Gujarat Titans and was also named their new captain.

Both of them also went on to have a good season. While Krunal Pandya scored 183 runs from 14 matches including four unbeaten knocks along with 10 scalps to his name, Hardik was not only spot on with his captaincy but also made tremendous contributions with his all-round abilities.

The younger Pandya finished with 487 runs from 15 matches and eight wickets. His best performance came against the Rajasthan Royals in the final where his figures of 3/17 broke the opposition’s backbone and restricted them to a below-par 130/9. More importantly, Hardik has been appointed as India’s captain for the upcoming T20I series against Ireland. The first of the two matches will be played in Dublin on June 26.