Hardik Pandya overtakes Rafael Nadal, Erling Haaland, AB de Villiers to achieve stellar milestone

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Hardik Pandya has been a spectacular player for India, especially in the limited-overs format. Pandya has been recently given the vice-captain role in the limited-overs and will be the deputy of Rohit Sharma in the ODI series against Australia.

He will also lead the team in the series opener at the Wankhede Stadium as skipper Rohit Sharma will miss the game due to family commitments.

And off the field, Hardik achieved a unique milestone on Monday. The Indian all-rounder crossed 25 million followers on Instagram and his social media following has surpassed many other sporting heroes. Pandya took to Instagram and uploaded a video thanking to all his followers for their support.

"Thank you to all my fans for the love. Each one of my fans is special to me and I would like to thank them for the love and support they have given me over all these years," the Gujarat Titans captain said thanking his followers.

With 25 million followers, Pandya has surpassed the likes of Tennis legend Rafael Nadal, football star Erling Haaland and South African cricketing legend AB de Villiers. Pandya, whose popularity on social media has hit another roof, was ecstatic after the milestone.

Rafael Nadal has just shy of 18 million followers, while Manchester City's ace striker Erling Haaland has 24.7 million Instagram followers. AB de Villiers, the Proteas maverick is followed by 20.6 million people on Instagram.