Hardik Pandya's romantic photo with model Mahieka Sharma as phone wallpaper ahead of IND vs SA 2025 series [In Picture]

Team India all-rounder Hardik Pandya recently gave fans a glimpse of his short break from cricket by posting multiple pictures on Instagram. The photograph that grabbed the most attention was his phone wallpaper.

The star cricketer's phone wallpaper was a romantic photograph with Maheika Sharma, where they were seen chilling in the ocean. Notably, the two have been spotted several times lately, including on a beach holiday.

Hardik's post also included a video of him washing his car alongside Maheika. He wrote in the caption:

"🦇🐾🦢"

On the cricketing front, Hardik Pandya was ruled out of India's ongoing Australia tour due to a left quadriceps injury. He sustained the injury during the Men in Blue's title-winning Asia Cup 2025 campaign.

Hardik is expected to make a comeback in the white-ball leg of India's upcoming home series against South Africa. The two sides will compete in two Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is.

South Africa's India tour kicks off with the Test series opener at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on November 14. The ODI and T20I series begin on November 30 and December 9, respectively.

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Hardik Pandya missed the Asia Cup 2025 final due to his quadriceps injury

Hardik Pandya hurt his left quadriceps during India's Super Fours match against Sri Lanka at the Asia Cup 2025. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side secured a Super Over win in the contest to go into the final unbeaten.

India were without Hardik in the all-important final against Pakistan. Despite the senior player's absence, they clinched a five-wicket win in the summit clash. Tilak Varma's unbeaten 69-run knock from 53 balls helped India chase the 147-run target with two balls to spare.

Meanwhile, Hardik picked up four wickets across six innings at an economy rate of 8.57 in the continental tournament. With the bat, he finished with 48 runs from four outings with a strike rate of 120.

India would hope to see the 32-year-old return to action soon as they look to find their ideal playing combination on the road to the 2026 T20 World Cup.