‘People had written you off…': Krunal Pandya's touching tweets for brother Hardik after GT win IPL

Krunal Pandya shared heartfelt tweets for his younger brother Hardik after the latter led the Gujarat Titans to their maiden IPL title in what was his first tournament as a captain.

The accolades have been coming in from all corners for Hardik Pandya after led the Gujarat Titans to an Indian Premier League (IPL) in his very first season as a captain of any team. Pandya has earned praise for the way he led his team and his calm demeanour, apart from being praised for his own individual performances with both bat and ball.

Hardik and Krunal were separated at the mega-auction. (BCCI)

However, the one accolade that Pandya might savour more than any other would be that of his elder brother Krunal Pandya. Krunal, who played for the Lucknow Super Giants this season, and Hardik were relatively obscure names when they were picked by the Mumbai Indians and ended becoming their star players over the years.

This season, however, they were not retained by MI and were separated at the mega-auction.

“My bro. Only you know the amount of hard work that’s gone behind this success of yours - early mornings, countless hours of training, discipline and mental strength. And to see you lift the trophy is the fruits of your hard work. You deserve it all and so much more. People had written you off but you keep writing history. Wish I was there when more than a lakh people were cheering your name,” said Krunal in his tweets.

Gujarat Titans beat the Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in the final to become the first team since their opponents in 2008 to win the IPL in their debut season. Hardik was man of the match in the final as he recorded figures of 3/17, his wickets including those of the dangerous Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer. He then scored 34 runs in what turned out to be a somewhat tricky chase for GT, despite RR being restricted to 130/9, having lost their in-form opener Wriddhiman Saha early.