Star Indian athlete and Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Hardik Pandya has strengthened his connection with fans on social media over the years. As Hardik's fan-following continues to grow, the 29-year-old stylish all-rounder is now reportedly the world's youngest cricketer to reach 25 million followers on Instagram. Hardik Pandya commands a huge fan following across geographies with more Instagram followers than some of global athletes like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
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Hardik Pandya on Monday took to Instagram to express his gratitude for his fans, and said, "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."
The senior player is in great form in limited-overs cricket, especially in the shortest format. Hardik isn't part of India's Test team, playing Border-Gavaskar Test series, but will return for the three-match ODI series against the same side from March 17. The second and third ODIs will be played on March 19 and 22 at Visakhapatnam and Chennai, respectively.
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Notably, Hardik Pandya, frontrunner to replace Rohit Sharma as captain in ODI and T20I format after 2023 ODI World Cup, will lead the national team in IND vs AUS 1st ODI in regular-skipper Rohit Sharma's absence. The senior opener is set to miss ODI series opener vs Australia due to family commitments but will return to lead in the second and third One-Day Internationals.
India's squad for IND vs AUS ODIs: Rohit Sharma (Captain), S Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya (Vice-captain), R Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, W Sundar, Y Chahal, Mohd Shami, Mohd Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat