IPL 2024: Not very long ago, Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya was booed by his home crowd. The MI fans, unhappy with Rohit Sharma being replaced by Hardik Pandya as captain, reacted with hostility at the Wankhede Stadium.
Things went so out of hand during the toss against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on April 1 that Sanjay Manjrejar, while supervising the toss, had to ask the crowd to “behave”. However, nothing of that sort happened when skipper Pandya came out to bat on April 11 as Mumbai were chasing 196 set by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Also Read: ‘Behave’: Sanjay Manjrekar schools crowd boo-ing Hardik Pandya during MI vs RR match | Watch
In the third delivery of the 13th over, Vijaykumar Vyshak dismissed Suryakumar Yadav, as Mahipal Lomror took the catch. This match turned out to be SKY’s comeback innings. He did not disappoint the MI fans last night, scoring a quickfire 52 off just 19 balls.
The crowd went crazy as he walked back to the pavilion. Fans cheered loudly for Surya, who raised his bat, acknowledged the applause, and went back all smiles. In the previous match, which was his actual comeback, SKY was out for a duck.
At the fall of the wicket, Hardik came to bat in this IPL match. While Surya’s grand farewell coincided with his entry, one more reason could have contributed to Mumbai fans not booing their captain this time.
It was RCB’s Virat Kohli who was seen gesturing to the crowd as Hardik came out to bat. He asked the crowd to applaud their captain. While many found it impressive for Kohli to stand by his India teammate, not everyone was happy.
‘Such a hypocrite’
“RCB fans showing toxicity Gambhir. Kohli Happy. RCB fans chanting Rohit Vadapav. Kohli Happy. Crowd chanting Kohli Kohli in front of Ganguly. Kohli Happy. But bro will have a problem when fans of other franchise criticizing a player, as they removed 5 times winning captain. Such a hypocrite person Kohli is [sic],” wrote one user on X (formerly Twitter).
“Such an Attention Seeker Chokli is he knows how to cover up loss [sic],” wrote another. “Don’t sneak into personal matter of Rohit. And where were you when crowd was booing Rohit Sharma in your homeground?? [sic]” came from another.
“In 2023 IPL, he clashed with Gambhir and Naveen. During the 2022 IPL, he gave flying kisses to Anushka after scoring 50(45). Now, another drama. He consistently seeks attention and craves limelight,” wrote one user.
Another user posted, “Why didn’t he do this when his fans kept trolling Ganguly, GG, Naveen, Gavaskar and list goes on [sic]”.
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Published: 12 Apr 2024, 09:50 AM IST