Ahead of India’s first Test of the 5-match series against England at Edgbaston starting from Wednesday, the flamboyant Indian allrounder Hardik Pandya has declared who is his first ‘love’. In an Instagram post, the 24-year old shared a photo with wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik with the caption, “My No.1 love”. If that was not all, the hard-hitting all-round also used hearts smileys in the caption.

Karthik has always known to be a good friend with Hardik and during his recent interview with Gaurav Kapur at the Breakfast with Champions, the wicketkeeper-batsman acknowledged he spends plenty of time with Pandya and KL Rahul. Here is the post of Pandya:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl2zP2XB-HZ/?taken-by=hardikpandya93

But Pandya’s declaration has encouraged a sarcastic reply from Karthik’s beloved wife Dipika Palllikal. The squash player, in a comment, expressed her ‘disapproval’ on being replaced. “Clearly, I’ve been replaced. Thanks,” she wrote in a comment.

With Wriddhiman Saha needing to undergo a surgery of his shoulder for a long-time injury, Karthik has been selected as the first choice wicketkeeper in India’s squad for the five-match Test series against England. Rishabh Pant is the backup gloveman for the series. It will be the first time since 2007, that the 32-year will play a Test series in the country. It will be his second series since his comeback in the longest format of the game. He earlier played the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June.

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Hardik Pandya has also found a place in the squad along with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Umesh Yadav as the fellow seamers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is currently injured, has been ruled out from the squad for the first three Tests. For the first Test, surprisingly, Cheeshwar Pujara has been dropped from the squad and he has been replaced by KL Rahul in the squad.