Hardik Pandya is probably the most talked about Indian cricketer at the moment. As if replacing five-time IPL champion Rohit Sharma at the helm of Mumbai Indians wasn’t enough, the poor start to his leadership role with the franchise in IPL 2024 has made things even worse for Pandya. Everywhere he goes, even on social media, the hatred surrounding Pandya is there for all to see. For India’s best fast bowling all-rounder, Pandya is certainly under pressure, especially from outside. Hardik Pandya’s Indian cricket teammate R Ashwin has spoken about the issue.
“It’s really bad that Hardik Pandya is being booed! Should MI management step in and owe an explanation to the fans? It’s really a bad transfer from the management. What do you think?” A fan named Santhoshkumar M asked Ashwin.
On YouTubeHe replied in Tamil, “Neither of them has a role to play. I think it is the responsibility and responsibility of the fans. In the comments section you will see conversations about Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni. They are legends of the Indian cricket team. It’s very Sad. This is cricket. It’s a complete film culture. I know there’s positioning, branding and marketing too. But fan wars are ugly.
“If you don’t like a player and abuse a player, why would a team come out and clarify? We are pretending that this has not happened before. Sachin played under the captaincy of Ganguly, these two have both played under Rahul Dravid. These have played under Ganguly’s captaincy.” three have played under Kumble and all have played under Dhoni. When they were under MS, these players were cricketing giants. We have to get our affairs in order. This is real-time sports.”
Star Australian player Steve Smith has advised Hardik Pandya to simply “block out” the constant jeers and boos that the new Mumbai Indians skipper has been receiving from the spectators at the IPL so far as they are “all irrelevant”.
I would try to say, to block it, it’s all irrelevant,” Smith, who faced abuse from fans around the world for his role in the 2018 Cape Town ball-tampering scandal, told ESPNcricinfo.
“Nobody outside knows what you’re going through. There’s nobody (outside) in that locker room.”
Smith, who was called ‘cheat’ by fans during the 2019 ODI World Cup in England, believes all this abuse will come as a big surprise to Hardik as he gets it at home from his Indian fans.
“Personally, it doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t bother me. I don’t pay attention to it,” said Smith, who was forced to resign as captain of Rajasthan Royals in 2018 following the ball-tampering scandal.
“You know it’s all white noise, but players definitely hear things and everyone is entitled to their own emotions and how they react to them.
‘So does it affect him (Hardik)? Maybe. It is possible. He probably hasn’t experienced that before, at any stage of life.
“So it’s normal, especially when you’re in India and a star Indian player, to be in a position where some fans are booing you. He certainly wouldn’t have experienced that.”
With PTI inputs
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