Krunal Himanshu Pandya (born 24 March 1991) is an Indian international cricketer who has played for the Indian cricket team. He currently captains and plays for the Baroda in domestic cricket and the Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL. He is an all-rounder who bats left-handed and bowls slow left-arm orthodox. He made his international debut for the Indian cricket team in November 2018. In 2021, he scored the fastest half-century by a cricketer on ODI debut. He is the elder brother of cricketer Hardik Pandya.
Domestic career
Pandya made his first-class debut on October 6, 2016, playing for Baroda during the 2016–17 Ranji Trophy tournament. Within the next few months, he became the leading run scorer and leading wicket taker for Baroda in 2016-17 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He scored 366 runs in 8 matches, playing at an average of 45.75 and strike rate of 81.33. This included three half centuries, with his highest score being 78. In bowling, he took 11 wickets in 8 matches with economy rate of 4.82, at an average of 25.09 and strike rate of 31.10. His best bowling score during the eight matches was 4/20. In 2017 he featured in an India A tri-series victory over South Africa A and Afghanistan A.
He was the leading run-scorer for Baroda in the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy, with 366 runs in eight matches. In October 2018, he was named in India A's squad for the 2018–19 Deodhar Trophy. Pandya was named as the captain of Baroda for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019–2020.
He was selected to play for the Warwickshire County Cricket Club in the 2022 Royal London One-Day Cup.