With hours to go for the big payday of the Indian cricket in IPL auction, Hardik Pandya turned all emotion while reminding fans of the dream he and his brother saw of playing together for India and their domestic side Baroda and how IPL auctions played an important role in realising his dreams.
In a 48-second video shared by the Indian all-rounder, a yesteryear's young Hardik could be seen giving interview to a local Hindi channel while talking of his aspiration of representing India along with his brother just like Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan did as they were the first brother duo to win a match together for the country.
To rejig fans' memory, Hardik rose to success during 2015 IPL with Mumbai Indians. This was also his debut season and soon after made his debut for India in limited-over games. He was brought at a base price of Rs 10,00,000 at the auction after the all-rounder had a strong outing with Baroda as champion a year earlier. He has only played for MI ever since; becoming champions six times.
His elder brother Krunal was picked up by MI at the next year's auction for a whopping bid price of Rs 2 crore and has been integral part of the franchise ever since, including a pivotal role in the last year's title run.