The archetypal modern-day Indian cricketer is no doubt best encapsulated by the allrounder, who mixes his charisma and swagger with big hits and uncanny knack of picking up key wickets to give the Indian side a huge amount of balance
Born: October 11, 1993
Role: Right-hand bat, right-arm medium-fast
The Gujarat-born 25-year-old, as his emboldened character would have it, shot to fame on the most glamorous of domestic stages with the Mumbai Indians following a hard grind in lower domestic cricket.
But what has not changed throughout is his raw ability to strike a ball over the ropes, his consistency in the field and his street-smart, back of a length bowling.
Impressing first of all with Baroda in the domestic Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament in January 2016, when he scored 377 runs at an average of over 50 and took 10 wickets on the way to Baroda making the final, he made his international T20I debut against Australia later that month.
His greatest challenge that year came when bowling the final over of a World T20 match against Bangladesh, managing to defend two runs from three deliveries to get the hosts over the line in Bengaluru.
Pandya has since become a key member for Virat Kohli in the ODI and Test format, with his main highlights so far coming in English conditions, namely a spirited 76 in a losing cause in the 2017 Champions Trophy final at the Oval, while he took 5-28 in his tenth Test match at Trent Bridge last summer.
He has also had notable contributions in more familiar conditions, including a first Test match century in just his third longer format outing in Pallekele against Sri Lanka, and playing a key role as Mumbai Indians claimed their third IPL title in 2017.
Pandya has been off centre stage for a while due to a severe back injury and then a ban following some misogynistic comments made on a chat show, but India will hope that the time off, as the man himself has claimed has occured, has put him in a good mind space ahead of the summer.
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