“Can pull my brother’s (Hardik Pandya) leg as I am a more expensive player at MI”: Krunal Pandya

Krunal and Hardik will now both play for MI and more interestingly, the lesser-known Pandya will be making 20 times more than what his more popular sibling did.

After the much renowned Pathan brothers, the city of Baroda is now all set to witness another set of brothers play cricket at top levels. Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been grabbing a lot of headlines after his selection in the national team. Hardik, who has had a brilliant domestic season for Baroda, is now one of the young faces that will take part in India’s Asia Cup and ICC World T20 campaigns.

Till the IPL Auctions, the elder Pandya — Krunal was relatively unknown in the cricket circle but when Mumbai Indians (MI) fetched him for Rs 2 crores, his life changed in a span of minutes. Krunal and Hardik will now both play for MI and more interestingly, the lesser-known Pandya will be making 20 times more than what his more popular sibling did.

An elated Krunal spoke to Mid-Day and expressed his glee, “I just couldn’t stop shouting. I never expected so much money. From a base price of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 2 crore is unbelievable. I can now pull my brother’s leg as I am a more expensive player than him at Mumbai Indians. Hardik was taken by MI at his base price of Rs 10 lakhs.”

While Hardik is a hard-hitting right handed batsman and right arm medium-pacer, Krunal is a left-handed batsman and a left-arm orthodox spinner. They are often compared to Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan. The Pathan duo has truly inspired many in the city and Krunal too is looking forward to play for India along with Hardik.

“Everyone talks of Irfan bhai and Yusuf bhai. They made Baroda famous in India. Now, we too want to have a similar impact. I want people to know Baroda by the Pandya brothers as well. We will try our best,” added Krunal, who is now planning to move from the Housing Board flat to a luxurious house.