Hardik Pandya remembers a New Year's Eve spent with his captain, Dhoni

Hardik Pandya surprised his fans by sharing a picture with MS Dhoni on New Year’s Eve 2019 with his former captain. Since July of that year, Dhoni had been away from the game and fans were eager to see the legend. Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni shared a special bond on and off the field. Besides shared passions on the field, they were great friends off the field as well. When he turned 39, the Pandya brothers surprised him with a trip to Ranchi. In 2019, they formed a solid bond off the field after spending New Year’s Eve together. A picture of Pandya and Dhoni was shared on Pandya’s Instagram stories two years ago.

Despite living a private life and not using social media, Dhoni’s fans had been longing for his presence after he had been away from the game since July 2019. As soon as the photo was taken, it became one of the talking points of the day. Just two months after his Indian debut, Pandya played in a T20 WC 2016 under Dhoni. Pandya became a key player of the team and his all-around skills saw him play three ICC events in his first 4 years of international cricket. Despite being sidelined with a back injury, the 28-year-old is still the first-choice all-rounder and will return whenever he is well enough. Despite pulling out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy recently to regain fitness, Pandya will not be part of the South Africa ODIs. 

Since the end of the T20 World Cup in 2021, Dhoni has been away from the game. As a former WC winner, Rohit has worn Team India’s mentor’s hat for the ICC event after leading Chennai Super Kings to IPL glory in UAE. In the upcoming T20 league season, he has been confirmed to play at least one more season for the Chennai Super Kings before the IPL 2022 mega auction.