India all-rounder Krunal Pandya penned a heartfelt note for brother Hardik Pandya, who played a crucial role in India ending a 11-year wait for ICC title during the recently-concluded T20 World Cup. Addressing the criticism Hardik has had to face, especially during IPL 2024, Krunal revealed that playing for India has always been his younger brother’s utmost priority. In a lengthy Instagram post, Krunal also pointed out how fans bowed and trolled Hardik, who kept his head grounded and responded to the critics with his performance during the T20 World Cup.

“It’s almost been a decade since Hardik and I started playing professional cricket. And the last few days have been like a fairy tale that we’ve dreamt off. Like every countryman I’ve lived this through our teams heroics and I couldn’t be more emotional with my brother being at the heart of it,” Krunal captioned a photo album.

Krunal insisted that the criticism has only motivated Hardik to come back even stronger.

“The last six months have been the toughest for Hardik. He simply didn’t deserve what he went through, and as a brother, I felt very, very bad for him. From booing, to people saying all kinds of nasty things, at the end of the day, we all forgot that he is just a human being who also has emotions. He somehow passed through all of this with a smile, though I know how hard it was for him to put on a smile. He kept working hard and focusing on what he needed to do to get the World Cup since that was his ultimate objective.”

“For Hardik, it has always been country first, and it will always be that way. For a young boy coming from Baroda, there can be no bigger achievement than helping his team win the World Cup.  Hardik, I am so, so proud of you. I love you so much, and you deserve every bit of happiness and all the good things that are coming your way. I have immense respect for you, my bachhu,” he added.

Recently, Hardik also admitted that while the past six months have been tough for him, he never lost patience.

“The last 6 months have been very entertaining for me, there have been a lot of ups and downs and the public booed me. A lot of things happened and I always felt that if I give any answer, it would be through sports… So I believed that I would stay strong, will work hard,” Hardik Pandya said during an interaction with PM Modi at the Prime Minister’s residence in Delhi.