Hardik Pandya’s Estranged Wife Faces Online Slut-Shaming

Hardik Pandya’s estranged wife, Natasa Stankovic, faced harsh criticism on social media after the Team India all-rounder and 2024 T20 World Cup winner announced their separation last week.

On Thursday, Hardik Pandya shared that he and Natasa Stankovic decided to part ways.

“After 4 years of being together, Natasa and I have decided to mutually part ways. We tried our best together and gave it our all, and we believe this is in the best interest for the both of us. This was a tough decision for us to make, given the joy, mutual respect and companionship we enjoyed together and as we grew a family,” Hardik Pandya wrote on his Instagram account.

“We are blessed with Agastya, who will continue to be at the center of both our lives and we will co-parent to ensure that we give him everything that we can for his happiness. We sincerely request your support and understanding to give us the privacy during this difficult and sensitive time,” he added.

The 30-year-old cricketer’s post stirred various reactions online. Many of his devoted fans labeled Natasa Stankovic as a gold-digger. Some even accused her of entering the relationship for money and fame and now aiming to profit substantially from alimony.

Speculation about Hardik Pandya’s relationship with Natasa Stankovic had been circulating for a while, especially as she had removed the Pandya surname from her social media profile and deleted all pictures with Hardik from her Instagram.

Natasa Stankovic had also been absent from the stands during Hardik’s international and IPL matches, even during his career lows.

For instance, Natasa remained silent as Hardik faced online abuse and boos from the crowd during the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) after he was named captain of the Mumbai Indians, replacing Rohit Sharma.

She did not publicly support him when Hardik suffered an injury during India’s ODI World Cup campaign last year.

Interestingly, Hardik Pandya has faced other setbacks recently. Earlier this week, the national selection committee, chaired by Ajit Agarkar, removed Hardik from the leadership positions of the Indian Cricket Team for the upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka.

In a surprise decision, the selectors appointed veteran batter Suryakumar Yadav as the captain of the T20I side, with Shubman Gill as his deputy.

This move did not sit well with former India batter Mohammad Kaif, who believed that Hardik Pandya had already demonstrated his leadership capabilities in the IPL and should have been the primary candidate to lead the national T20I team.

“Hardik has captained the Gujarat Titans for 2 years and in their first year itself, they made it to the final… Hardik has experience captaining the T20I side. He was also the vice-captain at the T20 World Cup. Now, a new coach has arrived, there will be new planning. Surya is also a good player, he has been playing for years. He is a no.1 T20 player, I hope he will shoulder the captain’s responsibility well. But, I feel they should have backed Hardik,” Mohammad Kaif told news agency IANS.

“Gambhir is the experienced captain and coach… He understands cricket very well. I think ‘Hardik ne aisa koi galat kaam nahi kia ki unko captaincy na mile’ (Hardik has not done anything wrong that he should not get the captaincy),” Kaif elaborated.

“He has experience, has captained in the IPL and leading a new team (Gujarat Titans) to trophy, with fresh and young faces, is a huge thing. He has made the Titans win by working from Ground Zero in the IPL…I think he was entitled to the captaincy. So let’s just wait and see,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ajit Agarkar, India’s chairman of selectors, put an end to the rumors about Hardik Pandya’s demotion from the national team’s leadership in T20Is.

“Regarding Hardik, he’s still a very important player for us. Fitness has obviously been a challenge for him… Then it becomes difficult for the coach or selectors. Fitness is a clear challenge and we want someone who is available more often than not. Having said that, we believe Surya has the qualities necessary to be a captain. We also feel we can manage Hardik better, we’ve seen what he can do with the bat and ball in the World Cup… We speak to every player, whether their role has changed. And yeah we’ve spoken to him,” Ajit Agarkar told reporters in a press conference ahead of Team India’s departure to Sri Lanka where the Men in Blue will play three T20Is and three ODIs.

T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj.

ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.

Source: India Today, IANS