'From school dropout rebel to Indian team'; Mahika with length post to celebrate Hardik's 33rd birthday

MUMBAI: Mahika Sharma jotted down her thoughts on social media on the occasion of her beau Hardik Pandya’s 33rd birthday. Mahika noted that she is happy to know Hardik’s strength lies in his actions rather than his words.

Social media is discussing the heartfelt note shared by Mahika. The actress came into Hardik’s life at a crucial juncture when the cricketer was battling depression after going through family issues and career upheaval. Hardik was previously married to 2024 Serbian dancer and actress Nataša Stanković. The two separated in 2024.

Mahika:

“Till Hardik was 19, he was a pure #4 batsman in Baroda. The monkeying younger brother, his presence on the ground was incidental. Hyper and athletic, cricket became the way to channel his energy. Barely educated, it would also become his grounds for expression.

Poor, socially excluded and considered a “rebel” because he never learnt the performative norms more common to those with lateral thinking and conventional upbringings - he didn’t seem to be getting any favours either.

A school dropout, it was a good use of his time since he couldn’t afford any hobbies and there wasn’t much to do once home. There also wasn’t any infrastructure in the locality to identify if he had a learning disability, which he described as “numbers and words flying around”.

With no intention to be a bowler or an all-rounder, the empathetic boy, yet a batsman, continued on with his relentless pursuit of cricket - the only thing in his life that made him feel accepted. A twist of events had a senior coach notice him bowling and caused severe confusion - he only knew Hardik the batsman.

A few days later, he debuted as an all-rounder, bowling in a match for the first time, and took 5 wickets. He didn’t even own a single pair of bowling shoes.

2 years later, he was scouted by his dream IPL team and signed on as a fast bowling all-rounder. 6 months later, he debuted for India. Today he is unequivocally the best at what he does.

No amount of dreaming could’ve penned the script #33 was about to live. While my letter might only dip into 3% of the well of greatness that is his story, I smile knowing his medium isn’t words. It never was.”