Over the years, we have rarely seen two brothers engaging in a battle on the cricket field. While the most recent one was between Shaun Marsh and Mitchell Marsh in Big Bash League (BBL), the battle between the Pandyas was in focus ahead of Gujarat Titans (GT), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) maiden clash in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.
The Pandya brothers had been playing for Mumbai Indians (MI) since their IPL debut but after the five-time winners released them, the two became free agents. While Hardik was roped in as captain, Krunal was picked by LSG for Rs 8.25 crore after an intense bidding war with Titans.
When the two brothers went up against each other, the older brother won the first bout. Krunal got the wicket of Hardik in the 11th over of Titans’ run chase. The big wicket of Titans’ skipper helped LSG strengthen their grasp over the match. After taking the wicket, Krunal did not do one of his usual animated celebrations but had his hands on his mouth while his teammates congratulated him.
Hardik faced eight deliveries from Krunal and scored six runs including a boundary. The face-off included three consecutive dot deliveries in the seventh over when skipper KL Rahul introduced him into the attack.
While Krunal finished with brilliant figures of 17/1 in four overs, Hardik had the last laugh as he team won the match by five wickets with two balls to spare.
Before the game, Krunal said that it is the first time they will be playing against each other as they played for Baroda together as well.
“It's the first time that we're playing against each other. Right from club cricket and age-group cricket, we've always played together. Very very excited and looking forward to it. It should be fun,” Krunal said before the toss.
Krunal also talked about the ritual between the two before every match.
“It's our ritual that before every match, even if we're playing individually we call and wish each other. We continued the tradition, and I called him from the bus. We wished each other - he said he will win, I said I will win, and then we decided let the best man win,” the LSG all-rounder added.
