“Hardik Pandya is a cheater” began trending on X following an ugly twist in the divorce saga of the Team India cricketer and his now-separated wife, Natasa Stankovic.

Natasa Stankovic's supporters on social media claimed that despite being married to the actress, Hardik Pandya had flings with other women.

“Just because he is a good cricketer doesn't mean he is a saint or something! We all know what kind of human being he is!! Serial cheater,” a fan wrote on the influential messaging app.

Moreover, the cricketer was labeled a “rapist”, with female users highlighting his misogynistic remarks made on film producer Karan Johar's talk show.

Reminding everyone of Hardik Pandya's past sexist behavior, netizens slammed the Team India cricketer for having a crass attitude towards the opposite sex and treating them like sex objects.

On Thursday, Hardik Pandya said that Natasa Stankovic and he were parting ways.

“After 4 years of being together, Natasa and I have decided to mutually part ways. We tried our best together and gave it our all, and we believe this is in the best interest for the both of us. This was a tough decision for us to make, given the joy, mutual respect and companionship we enjoyed together and as we grew a family,” Hardik Pandya wrote on his Instagram account.

“We are blessed with Agastya, who will continue to be at the centre of both our lives and we will co-parent to ensure that we give him everything that we can for his happiness. We sincerely request your support and understanding to give us the privacy during this difficult and sensitive time,” he added.

The 30-year-old cricketer's post triggered widespread reactions on the internet, with his vast legion of fans calling Natasa Stankovic a gold-digger. Some of them alleged that she got into a relationship with Hardik Pandya for money and fame and now wanted to earn big bucks through alimony from the mercurial player.

It is worth remembering that speculation about Hardik Pandya's relationship with Natasa Stankovic was doing the rounds for some time, especially after the latter dropped the Pandya surname from her profile on social media. Besides that Natasa Stankovic removed all her pictures with Hardik Pandya from Instagram.

Additionally, she had not been seen cheering Hardik Pandya during international or IPL games, even when the Gujarat-born cricketer was going through a rough patch in his career.

For example, Natasa Stankovic kept mum when Hardik Pandya faced a barrage of online abuse and was booed by the crowd during the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) after he was named the captain of the Mumbai Indians in place of Rohit Sharma.

Natasa Stankovic did not share a message of support for him after Hardik Pandya suffered an injury during India's ODI World Cup campaign at home last year.

Interestingly, it isn't the only bad news Hardik Pandya has experienced in recent days.

Last week, Hardik Pandya was snubbed by the national selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar as he was removed from the leadership positions of the Indian Cricket Team for the forthcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka.

While he was not named captain of the T20I side in a surprise move with veteran batter Suryakumar Yadav elevated to that position, Shubman Gill was named the Mumbai batter's deputy.

Hardik Pandya's snub, however, did not go well with former India batter Mohammad Kaif, who reckoned that Hardik Pandya had already proven his leadership skills in the IPL and he should have been the first choice to lead the national team in T20Is.

“Hardik has captained the Gujarat Titans for 2 years and in their first year itself, they made it to the final… Hardik has experience captaining the T20I side. He was also the vice-captain at the T20 World Cup. Now, a new coach has arrived, there will be new planning. Surya is also a good player, he has been playing for years. He is a no.1 T20 player, I hope he will shoulder the captain's responsibility well. But, I feel they should have backed Hardik,” Mohammad Kaif told news agency IANS.

“Gambhir is the experienced captain and coach… He understands cricket very well. I think ‘Hardik ne aisa koi galat kaam nahi kia ki unko captaincy na mile' (Hardik has not done anything wrong that he should not get the captaincy),” he elaborated.

“He has experience, has captained in the IPL and leading a new team (Gujarat Titans) to trophy, with fresh and young faces, is a huge thing. He has made the Titans win by working from Ground Zero in the IPL…I think he was entitled to the captaincy. So let's just wait and see,” Mohammad Kaif explained.

Meanwhile, Ajit Agarkar, India's chairman of selectors, shut down the conspiracy theories surrounding Hardik Pandya's demotion from the national team's skipper in T20Is to a normal player.

“Regarding Hardik, he's still a very important player for us. Fitness has obviously been a challenge for him… Then it becomes difficult for the coach or selectors. Fitness is a clear challenge and we want someone who is available more often than not. Having said that, we believe Surya has the qualities necessary to be a captain. We also feel we can manage Hardik better, we've seen what he can do with the bat and ball in the World Cup… We speak to every player, whether their role has changed. And yeah we've spoken to him,” Ajit Agarkar told reporters in a press conference ahead of Team India's departure to Sri Lanka where the Men in Blue will take part in three T20Is and an equal number of ODIs.