All well at the Pandya household? Krunal responds to rumoured rift with Hardik; ‘you have a lot of family members…’

From the bylanes of Baroda to making the senior state cricket team to Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) to playing for the Indian national team together, Krunal Pandya and Hardik Pandya have been thick and thin in each other's struggles. Although they play for different franchises now, their bond remained the same - support for each other on and off the field.

However, the recent narratives paint a different storyline. It all started when Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) played the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026. Following RCB's win, the brothers decided to have their usual end-of-match hug, as they used to. In fact, the two didn't even catch up after the game, unlike the previous seasons. Social media lit up with “Pandya brothers fighting?” "Family feud in IPL?", and a lot more.

Not just that, in the past few months, fans have also noticed a loud silence between the two brothers. There were no posts on social media from Hardik's elder brother, Krunal, or his wife, Pankhuri, during the T20 World Cup finals. Following his divorce from former wife Natasa Stankovic, Hardik is seen with his new girlfriend, Mahieka Sharma, more often nowadays.

In a recent RCB podcast with Danish Sait, Krunal did break his silence on his rumoured rift with Hardik, but not as much as the fans would have wanted. The interviewer started, “Last year, you didn't give an interview. Is it because you were with your family?” In reply, Krunal said, “You didn't call me.”

The interviewer countered, “No, we called. You said you were with your family and didn't come. I want to know, is RCB not your family?” I was with my RCB family. You didn't the RCB," said Krunal in response. The RCB all-rounder added, “Sometimes when you are with your RCB family, you have a lot of family members, but then you also miss some (referring to the interviewer).”

Upon hearing this, the interviewer said, “Like your brother,” breaking into laughter. Krunal too couldn't stop himself. The interviewer said, “All ok there, or some fighting?” While Krunal continued to laugh, the interviewer added, “Kane and Undertaker also fight sometimes.” Krunal replied, “All okay.”

Krunal Pandya clears air on Mukul Choudhary incident

Further, Krunal also cleared the air on the accusations of sledging Lucknow Super Giants youngster Mukul Choudhary. The RCB star explained that he was speaking with Mukul normally, but his actions were misinterpreted. "People were saying 'sledging a youngster'.

"I bowled to him, and on the first ball, he hit a paddle. I didn't sledge him, just said, 'Mukul, you are a young guy, you can hit sixes over long-on or long-off, hit me there.' He was laughing; it was just a joke. With my hairstyle, people think I am very serious and angry, but I am not," said Krunal.

Catch the live updates from IPL 2026 with the complete IPL 2026 Schedule and the IPL 2026 Points Table. Also, know who are currently leading the charts in IPL 2026 Orange Cap and IPL 2026 Purple Cap.