All-rounder Krunal Pandya is now a five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winner, a rare feat in the tournament's history. Krunal seems to have found a new identity at Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), playing a huge role in their two back-to-back IPL title wins. Despite putting in performances in the IPL 2026, Krunal doesn't seem to be in selectors' radars even after Ravindra Jadeja's T20I retirement. Axar Patel has been considered for the role and did well in two consecutive T20 World Cup trophy wins.
Nearly five years after his previous appearance in international cricket, the 35-year-old is hopeful of a comeback ahead of the UK tour featuring T20I series against Ireland and England. But, similar to his RCB teammate Bhuvneshwar Kumar, he doesn't think much about it.
“Yeah, hope is always there, right? I am hopeful that I’ll get the opportunity again to play for the country. Fingers crossed, but I am hopeful,” the all-rounder told TOI.
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Krunal recalled his younger days when IPL didn’t exist. He always aimed at playing for the country, a dream he realised in 2018, years after his brother Hardik Pandya’s debut. He recalled winning awards during his nearly three-year stint in ODIs. While he often feels disappointed, he has stopped thinking about selection altogether.
“There is no better feeling than playing for the country. When I was six or seven years old, there was no IPL. The biggest dream for any cricketer was to play for India. I dreamt about it my entire life and got that opportunity in 2018. In the 18 games I played, I did decently well. I won a Man of the Match in Australia and New Zealand and a Man of the Series in the West Indies. I had a good run with the Indian team. Later, when I got another opportunity in One-day cricket, I did pretty well again,” Krunal said.
“I don’t think too much about selection now. Of course, I am human and there is disappointment at times. But, you have to remind yourself why you started playing cricket. I have immense love for the sport, and that’s what keeps me going.” he added.
Krunal’s impressive numbers in IPL 2026
In the recently-concluded IPL 2026, he claimed 14 wickets at an average of 30.35. His economy rate was 8.41 runs per over which is impressive considering how batter-dominated the competition has become. With the bat, he had his best season since 2018 edition when he used to play for Mumbai Indians (MI). From just nine innings, he scored 226 runs at an average of 37.66 and strike rate of 145.80, including a fifty.