Gujarat Titans Captain Hardik Pandya Creates History, Becomes Youngest Cricketer To Reach 25 Million Followers On Instagram

India T20 captain Hardik Pandya has more Instagram followers than some of the global stars like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Max Verstappen and Erling Haaland.

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All-rounder Hardik Pandya is enjoying a golden run in cricket at the moment. In 2022, Pandya was appointed captain of debutants Gujarat Titans and promptly led them to the Indian Premier League (IPL) title. The GT skipper is now almost certain to take over as full-time T20I skipper of the Indian team.

There is more glory coming Hardik Pandya’s way as on Monday (March 6), he has become the youngest cricketer in the world to reach 25 million followers on Instagram. Interestingly, Pandya has more Instagram followers than some of the global stars like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Max Verstappen and Erling Haaland.

Pandya currently has more than 25.1 million followers on Instagram. “Thank you to all my fans for the love. Each one of my fans is special to me and I would like to thank them for the love and support they have given me over all these years,” said Pandya, while expressing his gratitude for his fans for his huge social media following.

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A post shared by Hardik Himanshu Pandya (@hardikpandya93)

Pandya has been a household entity as a cricketer since his international debut in 2016. At 29, he is a senior member in the Indian team’s white-ball setup as well as in the IPL. On the cricketing front, Hardik hasn’t featured in Tests since 2018 and is not a part of the Indian team currently playing against Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

After recovering from a career-threatening back injury, Pandya has been a vital cog in India’s limited-overs set-up since June 2022. The big-hitting right-handed batter had captained India in its home T20I series wins over Sri Lanka and New Zealand earlier this year. He will be seen in action next in the ODI series against Australia, which starts on March 17 in Mumbai.

In the ODIs against Australia, Pandya will act as Rohit Sharma’s deputy in series and will captain India in the ODI against Mumbai with the latter unavailable due to personal reasons.

After the conclusion of the series, Pandya will captain Gujarat Titans in their IPL title defence in the 2023 season. IPL 2023 starts on March 31 when Hardik-led Gujarat will be facing four-time winners MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings at their home ground, Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

In IPL 2022, Pandya notched up 487 runs with four half-centuries and top-score of 87 not out at a strike-rate of 131.2. He also picked up 8 wickets in 15 matches at an average of 27.75.

(with IANS inputs)