Hardik Pandya was born on 11 October 1993 in Surat, Gujarat. His father, Himanshu Pandya, ran a small car finance business in Surat which he shut down and moved to Vadodara when Hardik was five to provide his sons with better cricket training facilities. Himanshu Pandya worked as a loan agent in Vadodara. He enrolled his two sons into Kiran More's cricket academy in Vadodara. Lacking finances, the Pandya family lived in a rented apartment in Gorwa, with the brothers using a second-hand car to travel to the cricket ground.Hardik studied at the MK High School until ninth grade before dropping out to focus on cricket. Ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction, Pandya was released by the Mumbai Indians. He was then drafted by the new Ahmedabad franchise, Gujarat Titans, and named captain of the team.He led Gujarat to their maiden IPL title in 2022, becoming the first captain after Shane Warne to lead a team to the title in its first year.In the IPL 2023 Pandya again led Gujarat Titans to the finals but lost to Chennai Super Kings by five wickets through DLS method. In IPL 2024, Pandya returned to Mumbai Indians after 2 seasons. He was announced as the captain of the side replacing Rohit Sharma.