In Pictures: Hardik Pandya and Natasa Stankovic enjoy family holiday in Phuket
Team India all-rounder Hardik Pandya and wife Natasa Stankovic are enjoying a family holiday in Phuket, Thailand. Natasa shared some pictures and videos from their visit to Phuket on her Instagram handle.
The 29-year-old Pandya was last seen in action during the Indian Premier League 2023. He led the Gujarat Titans to the final, where the franchise went down to Chennai Super Kings in a last-ball thriller.
He was not part of the World Test Championship final against Australia at The Oval. In fact, he hasn’t played any red-ball cricket for India since the tour of England in 2018.
On Wednesday, June 21, Pandya’s wife Natasa uploaded pictures and videos from Phuket on her social media handle with an elephant and red heart emoji. The Indian cricketer responded to the post with a red heart emoji.
Recently, a video from Pandya and Natasa’s wedding ceremony went viral in which the Team India all-rounder was seen negotiating with sister-in-law Pankhuri to get his shoes back during the traditional ‘Joota Churai’ ceremony.
In the clip, the cricketer is seen agreeing to pay ₹5 lakh to Pankhuri for his shoes.
Hardik Pandya to retain captaincy for West Indies T20Is - Reports
While Pandya is yet to be named as full-time T20I captain of India, he's likely to lead the team in the T20Is in West Indies as well.
India last played a T20I on February 1, which was followed by the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series. Most of the players then featured in IPL 2023.
Following a break after the WTC final, India’s next assignment will be a multi-format tour of West Indies, where they will play two Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is.
According to Cricbuzz, Pandya will continue to lead the Men in Blue in the T20Is. Seniors like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Mohammed Shami have been left out of the T20I squad since the World Cup last year and are unlikely to feature in future events, too.
Meanwhile, IPL 2023 stars Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rinku Singh could be rewarded with maiden call-ups to the T20I team. The five-match T20I series will be played from August 3 to 13.