Mumbai Indians (MI) have made it a habit of unearthing jewels from the local Indian domestic tournament and two of the biggest examples have been Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah. One hailed from Baroda and another from Gujarat and was scouted by MI scouts.
MI gave both the chances to learn from the best and shortly they made their IPL debuts for Mumbai Indians. Hardik Pandya, who made his MI debut in 2015 on this day, April 19, took to Twitter to share a heartfelt thank you to the franchise for choosing and believing in him.
Hardik, who was bought for mere Rs 10 lakhs in the 2015 IPL auction, made his first impression with a 31-ball 61 for Mumbai Indians against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2015. Soon he became one of the pillars for MI in the tournament, helping them win the IPL title in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020.
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Thus far, Hardik has played 83 IPL matches, scoring 1384 runs with a strike rate of 157.45 and 4 half-centuries to his name. His highest score is 91 and he has hit 93 sixes and 91 fours. He also has 42 wickets to his name with the best bowling performance of 3/20.
On the occasion of the 6th anniversary of his MI debut, Hardik tweeted, “A walk down memory lane and looking back at 6 extraordinary years with a team so close to my heart @mipaltan. To the management, staff, teammates, and fans who’ve been with me on this journey, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
