What happened to Krunal Pandya: Why was India’s debutant all-rounder crying during innings break?

Krunal Pandya: The debutant Indian all-rounder scored a quickfire half-century to commence his ODI career in the best possible manner.

During the first ODI of the ongoing England’s tour of India in Pune, debutant India all-rounder Krunal Pandya made the most of an opportunity presented to him by scoring a quickfire half-century.

Coming in to bat at No. 7 in the 41st over, Pandya stitched an unbeaten 112-run partnership for the sixth wicket alongside wicket-keeper batsman Lokesh Rahul (62*) to power his team to 317/5 in 50 overs.

With Rahul giving the impression of taking his time, it was Pandya who put on display a fearless brand of batting only to find boundaries at regular intervals in the third powerplay.

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Having scored 58* (31) with the help of seven fours and a couple of sixes, Pandya has become yet another Indian player who has done exceedingly well on debut in the last few months.

In addition to Rahul and Krunal Pandya, India opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan (98) and captain Virat Kohli (56) also scored individual half-centuries at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium today.

Why has Krunal Pandya crying during the innings break?

Speaking to host broadcaster Star Sports during the innings break, an emotional Krunal Pandya couldn’t stop himself from crying as he dedicated his magnificent half-century to his late father.

It is worth mentioning that it was in January this year when Himanshu Pandya (71) had died after suffering a heart attack. “This one is for my dad. I did get emotional,” Krunal told Star Sports.

Krunal, who was leading Baroda in the Vijay Hazare Trophy then, left the bio-bubble to be with his family in Vadodara. Much like him, younger brother Hardik Pandya had also traveled from Mumbai to Vadodara in the hour of grief.

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