[Watch] Hardik Pandya celebrates his 30th birthday by cutting cake alongside Indian teammates
All-rounder Hardik Pandya turned 30 as Team India crushed Afghanistan in their second 2023 World Cup outing on October 11. Following the eight-wicket win, the players and support staff assembled in the dressing room as Hardik cut his birthday cake amidst best wishes from everyone.
During the build-up to the Afghanistan clash, Hardik had a mini cake-cutting session with the host broadcaster and former India batter Gautam Gambhir. It was ironically the first time that Hardik played in an international game on his birthday by his admission.
The batting all-rounder had the perfect birthday, picking up two vital wickets to restrict Afghanistan to 272/8 on a placid pitch in Delhi.
Here is a video shared by the BCCI on their social media handle of Hardik Pandya's cake-cutting post-game as he turned 30.
Hardik Pandya also thanked fans, players, and everyone involved for the wishes on his 30th birthday at the end of the video.
Before the start of the match, the Gujarat-born cricketer expressed his joy in receiving a birthday gift from his son Agastya and cheekily stated that the reality of not being in his 20s anymore hit him the previous night.
Hardik has been arguably India's best pace-bowling all-rounder since Kapil Dev, with over 3,500 runs and 172 wickets in his international career.
Team India won their second consecutive game to kickstart the 2023 World Cup
Amidst the celebrations of Hardik Pandya turning 30, Team India were all business on the field as they recorded a second consecutive win in the ongoing 2023 World Cup.
Following a brief stutter to 2/3 in their run chase of 200 against Australia in Chennai, the Men in Blue set the record straight by decimating the Afghan bowlers. A disciplined bowling performance restricted Afghanistan to a below-par 272/8 in 50 overs on a batting beauty in Delhi.
Jasprit Bumrah led the way with 4/39 in his 10 overs and was ably supported by two wickets from Hardik Pandya and one from Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur each.
In reply, it was the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma who stole the show by scoring his 31st ODI century and breaking several records in the process. The 36-year-old recorded the fastest World Cup century by an Indian batter in 63 deliveries, overtaking Kapil Dev's 72.
Rohit also became the first batter to score seven World Cup centuries, the joint-fastest to 1,000 World Cup runs, and third behind Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar on the all-time ODI hundreds list.
He was supported either side by a valuable 47 from Ishan Kishan and an unbeaten 55 from Virat Kohli as India steamrolled to the target in a mere 35 overs with eight wickets to spare.
It perfectly sets up the marquee clash between India and Pakistan, with both teams winning their opening two encounters at Ahmedabad on Saturday.