Hardik Pandya was born on 11 October 1993 in Surat, Gujarat. His father Himanshu Pandya ran a small car finance business in Surat which he shut down and, shifted to Vadodara when Hardik was five, in order to facilitate his sons with better cricket training facilities. He enrolled his two sons (Hardik and Krunal) into Kiran More's cricket academy in Vadodara. Financially weak, the Pandya family lived in a rented apartment in Gorwa, with the brothers using a second-hand car to travel to the cricket ground. Hardik studied at the MK High School till ninth grade before dropping out to focus on cricket.

Hardik made steady progress in junior-level cricket and, according to Krunal, "won a lot of matches single-handedly" in club cricket. In an interview with the Indian Express, Hardik revealed that he was dropped from his state age-group teams due to his "attitude problems." He added that he was "just an expressive child" who does not "like to hide his emotions."

According to his father, Hardik was a leg spinner until the age of 18 and turned to fast bowling at the insistence of the then Baroda coach Sanath Kumar.

Pandya has been playing for Baroda cricket team since 2013. He played a vital role in Baroda winning the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the 2013–14 season.

In the 2015 season of the Indian Premier League, he scored a quick fire 21 runs off 8 balls and grabbed three important catches to help Mumbai Indians beat Chennai Super Kings by six wickets and was awarded the man of the match. After the first qualifier against Chennai Super Kings, Sachin Tendulkar called over Hardik and told him that he will play for India in the next 18 months. Within one year he was chosen to play in the Indian squad during 2016 Asia Cup and 2016 ICC World Twenty20.

Later on against Kolkata Knight Riders, in a must-win situation for Mumbai Indians to remain in the race for the top 4 teams, he scored a quickfire 61 off 31 balls to win the match for his side and earn his second man of the match award in the season. He was also awarded the 'Yes Bank maximum sixes award' for the same match.

In January 2016, he slammed eight sixes during his innings unbeaten 86 to guide Baroda cricket team to a six-wicket win over Vidarbha cricket team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

In the 2018 IPL Player Auction, he was retained by the Mumbai Indians for Rs. 11 Crores.