New Delhi: Since the birth of his baby boy, India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has rarely got the time to spend with him. First it was the IPL, which was followed by the limited overs series in Australia kept hardik busy. And then there were the quarantine protocols. So this time with the England series looming, Hardik decided to take his son along with him. So that the doting father can spend some quality time with his.
Prior to the first Test beginning February 5 in Chennai, the Indian contingent like their England counterparts will have to undergo quarantine. Like many others, Hardik has decided to take his family with him. Pandya has been named in the Test squad after a long time. After taking the flight Pandya took to Instagram to share a picture of his son Agastya onboard with him in the aircraft. In the adorable picture, Pandya’s son can be seen all smiles sitting in his father’s lap while looking at the camera. “My boy’s first flight,” Pandya captioned the picture.
The moment Pandya posted the picture, it went viral. The post attracted many comments and likes very quickly. The first to comment was Agastya’s mother Natasa Stankovic posting several red heart emojis on the picture. Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan was among first to show his affection.
The last time Pandya played red ball cricket was way back in 2018 against England at Southampton. Pandya had undergone a lower back surgery towards the end of 2019 which kept him out of home Test series against South Africa and Bangladesh. He also missed the away two-match Test series against New Zealand early last year.
Pandya returned to competitive cricket with the IPL. However, these days he is playing more as a batsman and hasn’t bowled at all. In fact in the recently concluded limited overs series against Australia, the all-rounder played some very good and crucial knocks in both the T20s and the ODIs. In the ODI series he was the top run-getter for India even though India lost the series 1-2. In the T20 matches he got the player of the series award.