After ‘she helped rediscover excitement’ remark, Hardik Pandya shares intimate birthday post for Mahieka Sharma

NEW DELHI: Indian cricketer Hardik Pandya shared a sweet birthday post for his girlfriend Mahieka Sharma on Instagram. He posted a warm photo with her and wrote, “Happy birthday my princess.”

Hardik confirmed his relationship with Mahieka in late 2025. This came more than a year after his divorce from Natasa Stankovic in July 2024.




Since then, Hardik and Mahieka have been seen together many times. She has also been seen spending time with Hardik’s son, Agastya, which showed the growing closeness between them.

In an interview with JioStar amid this ongoing T20 World Cup, Hardik spoke about how Mahieka helped him in his cricket journey.

He admitted that he had not used his full potential as a batter.

He said, “After the last IPL, I realised that I really wanted to play to my full potential. I think until now, I haven't utilised more than 40 per cent of my batting potential.” He explained that he needed time to understand how to bring out his best form.

Hardik said Mahieka played a key role in motivating him.

He added, “That's when Mahieka came into my life. We started talking about the sport and how to bring that child back.”

He also said, “Mahieka helped me rediscover that excitement for the game that I always had.”

He shared that he trained for long hours and spent six to seven hours on the ground on some days.

On Valentine’s Day 2026, Hardik got a tattoo on the back of his neck to show his feelings for Mahieka. The tattoo includes the letter ‘M’ and two leopards. The leopards symbolise their strong bond and how they push each other to be better.

Tattoo artist Sunny Bhanushali explained the meaning and said, “Hardik came with the idea of an initial, but conversations revealed something much deeper. They described themselves as partners who amplify each other's strengths. The leopard became the perfect metaphor — powerful alone, unstoppable together.”

Get the latest ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 updates, including the full schedule, teams, live scores, points table, and key series stats such as top run-scorers and wicket-takers.