In the first T20I against New Zealand, the much-hyped Pandya brothers finally got the opportunity to play together for the Indian cricket team.
After the Pathan duo (Yusuf & Irfan) and Amarnath brother (Mohinder & Surinder), the Pandyas became the third band of siblings to represent the Indian team.
Mohinder and Surinder were the first siblings to play together for the national team -- they only played three ODIs together.
The Pathan boys played together for first time in the 2007 T20I World Cup final -- where India beat Pakistan to clinch the inaugural championship. Elder Yusuf made his debut in the same match as veteran Virender Sehwag got injured before the summit clash. Younger brother Irfan was chosen Man of the match in the final for picking up three crucial wickets. The Pathan boys played 8 ODIs and 8 T20Is together for the country.
The interesting fact between the Pandyas and Pathan siblings is that both the duos are from the same Ranji team -- Baroda.
However, this is not the first time Pandya brothers are playing together at a big stage. They both are part of the same franchise -- Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League and won the T20I tournament together in 2017, where the elder sibling played a match-winning knock in the final.
He was the top scorer for the three-time IPL champions with 47 runs. Hardik joined MI in 2015 while the elder one got a chance to play in 2016 for the Mukesh Ambani-owned franchise.
Hardik has now become an integral part of the Indian team in all three formats while Krunal made his debut in T20Is in Australia and is eyeing a permanent spot in the side.
Indian stand-in captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl in the first T20 International against New Zealand in Wellington on Wednesday.
The hosts however smashed 219 runs from their 20 overs and put on a big task for the visitors to chase it down.
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Khaleel Ahmed.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Colin Munro, Tim Seifert (wk), Ross Taylor, Daryl Mitchell, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson.
