Once again, in the IPL 2024, MI skipper Hardik Pandya got booed as Wankhede vented its ire
This was the territory of Rohit Sharma, who is the Mumbai star and the legend of Mumbai Indians. And in case you had any doubts, then the huge cutouts of Rohit that greet everyone as they enter the Wankhede stadium would have removed them. It was the first match of the Mumbai Indians’ at home in the 2024 season, and the franchise was quite nervous regarding what would be the reaction of the home crowd towards the newly appointed captain, Hardik Pandya.
Will they show any more kindness than the audience in the first two matches or not? Will they give a chance to Hardik Pandya? Or will they give him a hard time? Will the fans of the home team support their skipper or not?
The return of Hardik’s to MI and his promotion as captain over their five-time title-winning captain Rohit haven't gone well with the fans. The poor start of the franchise hasn't helped with matters either. And even before the game started, it was clear where the allegiance of the crowd lay.
When Hardik walked out for the toss, he was greeted by chants of the former skipper's name, ‘Rohit, Rohit’. The presenter, who is the former cricketer of team India Sanjay Manjrekar, tried to give a helping hand to Hardik, asking the crowd to cheer for him to which the crowd responded with boos. And all the former cricketer could say was, "Behave.".
Hardik tried to put up a brave face, but it was quite hard for him. He keeps on smiling and saying the right things. At the toss, when asked about playing his 250th match for MI, he said, “This franchise holds a lot of value and a lot of love from the fans.”
Rohit, who is the darling of the crowd, with his enhanced stature as captain of team India, was given a loud reception as he walked out to bat. But it proved to be anti-climactic, as he fell to Trent Boult's left-arm pace ace in the very first ball he faced. The crowd was silenced, and MI kept losing wickets. In no time, they were 20/4.
Out came Hardik, until then the day’s anti-hero, but as he began a brief counter-attack, looking to take on Nandre Burger, Avesh Khan, and Yuzvendra Chahal, The crowd was quite confused about how they should react. But with every boundary of Hardik, the crowd’s voice of support grew. The plain-clothed policemen in some of the stands didn’t have to be called into action.
Later in the game, Rohit was seen asking the crowd to calm down and not boo Hardik. But it will take more than that.