Another day within the IPL for Mumbai Indians, and but once more Hardik Pandya felt the group’s ire. Since he changed Rohit Sharma as MI skipper, Pandya has been receiving an unprecedented quantity of hate on social media and on the floor. This time it occurred on the Wankhede Stadium – MI’s house floor. Fans began booing the Mumbai Indians skipper as he walked out for the toss of their IPL match in opposition to Rajasthan Royals on Monday, whilst chants of ‘Rohit… Rohit’ reverberated throughout the Wankhede Stadium.

But, with the bat in hand, Pandya managed to get the group on his aspect, rapidly turning the jeers into cheers with half a dozen boundaries throughout a 21-ball 34, which lifted his crew from 20/4 to 76/5 within the tenth over, when his entertaining knock got here to an finish.

In truth, the cheers from across the floor have been as loud as any when Pandya smashed his first 4, a far cry from the night’s hostile reception.

However, misplaced the match by six wickets after being restricted to 125/9. The 29-year-old Pandya, who changed Rohit because the captain of the Mumbai Indians within the lead-up to the match, has already been subjected to crowd’s anger over the franchise’s choice concerning management throughout the crew’s earlier two away video games at Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

Pandya was booed by a bit of the group earlier than the toss when he was doing rounds of the sphere as a warm-up train.

The flamboyant all-rounder was then booed once more when his named was introduced on the time of the toss, to which Pandya solely smiled as loud chants in help of the previous Mumbai skipper Rohit crammed the venue.

The jeers continued as Pandya started talking after shedding the toss to Rajasthan Royals’ skipper Sanju Samson, forcing presenter Sanjay Manjrekar to ask the group to “behave”.

Right at that second, Rohit, in his coaching equipment, was assembly his former teammate Harbhajan Singh who was on the discipline as one of many commentators doing the pre-match present.

If the relentless booing was not sufficient, Pandya once more discovered himself on the receiving finish of crowd’s displeasure, particularly from the Sachin Tendulkar stand when he walked out to bat along with his crew reeling at 20/4 within the fourth over.

Later, a video surfaced through which Rohit appeared to be asking the group to cease booing his successor.

Rohit Sharma discovered from Virat Kohli the right way to shield personal gamers#IPL2024 #MIvsRRpic.twitter.com/QEOiiwjtH0

— Mayur (@133_AT_Hobart) April 1, 2024

Respect for Rohit sharma #RohitSharma𓃵 #HardikPandya https://t.co/le3b7pKyxb

— Cricklover (@kumarmanoj_11) April 1, 2024

“The day Hardik wins a game for MI by contributing big, he’ll walk into the Wankhede to a hero’s welcome! Wankhede will soon chant ‘Navratri maa Daandiya, Wankhede maa Pandya’,” stated Nish Navalkar, a member of the ‘North Stand Gang’ on the iconic venue.

Additionally, as per officers right here, the followers have been allowed contained in the stadium solely after their banners have been confiscated as a result of an election fee directive given to the Mumbai police.

However, there was a component of miscommunication in addition to misinterpretation for the reason that directive was about not permitting political banners however followers complained on social media about all banners being taken away.

There have been, nonetheless, a couple of followers who have been capable of carry their banners inside.

With PTI inputs