Star Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has named a former Indian Test opener as his cricket idol during his formative years. Hardik, who began his international career for India in January 2016 in a T20I match against Australia, was present in Delhi on Sunday for the BCCI's award ceremony. During a rapid-fire session with Harsha Bhogle, alongside Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Hardik was asked about his cricket idol from his youth, to which he responded with Wasim Jaffer's name.
Pandya mentioned that Jaffer, an Indian cricketer from the 2000s, was his childhood cricket idol.
Jaffer played for India in 31 Test matches and 2 One Day Internationals from 2000 to 2008, scoring 1944 runs in Tests and 10 runs in ODIs. During his 8-year Test career, he recorded five centuries and 11 half-centuries for the Indian team.
Jaffer, a prominent figure in Indian domestic cricket, has taken on the roles of expert and commentator following his retirement from professional cricket. As a right-handed top-order batsman, he played for Mumbai and Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy for several years and holds the record for the highest number of runs scored in India's leading domestic red-ball competition.
While Hardik referred to Jaffer, Sanju Samson chose Sachin Tendulkar as his childhood cricket idol. For the world's top T20I batter, Abhishek Sharma, former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, who also serves as his mentor, was his childhood cricket idol. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi named Brian Lara and Yuvraj Singh as his cricket idols.
Brian Lara, the former captain of the West Indies, is regarded as one of the finest cricketers in history. The iconic left-handed batsman from Trinidad and Tobago participated in 131 Test matches and 299 One Day Internationals between 1990 and 2007, amassing over 10,000 runs in each format. Upon retiring from Test cricket, he held the record for the most runs scored in the five-day format.