Krunal, Hardik Pandya’s father passes away after cardiac arrest, Baroda skipper leaves SMAT20 bio-bubble

Krunal and Hardik Pandya’s father, Himanshu Pandya, passed away on Saturday, January 16, due to a cardiac arrest. The 29-year-old Krunal, who’s playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy for Baroda, has left the team’s bio-secure bubble.

The Ahmedabad-born southpaw played three matches in the tournament and would now be spending time with his family. Shishir Hattangadi, the Baroda Cricket Association CEO, informed about Krunal, pulling out of the T20 league.

“Yes, Krunal Pandya has left the bubble. It is a personal tragedy, Baroda Cricket Association mourns this loss of Hardik and Krunal,” the CEO, was quoted as saying in Inside Sport.

Even as Krunal was playing in the SMAT20, Hardik wasn’t a part of the league. The latter is busy preparing for India’s home campaign against England that starts in the month of February.

Krunal taking Baroda to the top

Before leaving Krunal made sure that his team were on top of the points table. Being placed in Elite Group C, Baroda started with three wins on the trot and have 12 points along with an incredible net run rate of 1.171.

Their opening game against Uttarakhand was a close affair as they won by five runs. It was skipper Krunal’s all-round show that took them over the finishing line. He scored 76 runs and also picked up two wickets to show for his efforts.

In the second and third match against Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Baroda won by four and nine wickets respectively. Krunal didn’t get many chances to bat in their last two games but made sure that he picked up a wicket each in those matches.

Baroda’s next match is against Maharashtra on Saturday, January 16 at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. It remains to be seen who takes the leadership role in Krunal’s absence. In their last league game, they will be facing Gujarat, who have managed two wins from three matches.

As far as Krunal is concerned, he was recently involved in an alleged spat with Deepak Hooda, who left the team hotel. Later the BCA sounded unhappy with Hooda’s actions and talked about informing the same to the Board of Control for Cricket in India.