Mahieka Sharma shares emotional Instagram post on Hardik Pandya's 33rd birthday

Hardik Pandya with Mahieka Sharma. Pic/Mahieka’s Instagram

India all-rounder Hardik Pandya's girlfriend, Mahieka Sharma, detailed his arduous journey to the pinnacle of cricket in an emotional note on the occasion of his 33rd birthday on Sunday.

"Till Hardik was 19, he was a pure No. 4 batsman in Baroda. Hyper and athletic, cricket became the way to channel his energy," Mahieka wrote to her 723,000-strong Instagram following.

She also highlighted his poor education and a probable learning disability.

"Barely educated, poor, socially excluded and considered a rebel because he never learnt the performative norms common to those with conventional upbringing. He didn't seem to be getting any favours either. 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.' But he had a knack for working like a horse, and this was his biggest cheat code. No amount of dreaming could pen the script he was about to live. My letter might only dip into 3 per cent of the well of greatness of his story," added Mahieka.