Fans have not been kind to Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Hardik, who is making his captaincy debut for MI in IPL 2024, was booed by the crowd in the franchise’s first two matches so far. The 30-year-old received a hostile reception upon his return to the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with the Gujarat Titans fans booing him at the toss. MI have lost both their matches so far, first against GT and then SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH).
For the unversed, fans are not happy with Hardik replacing Rohit as MI captain following his swap from GT ahead of the IPL 2024 player auction.
On Monday, MI will take on Rajasthan Royals in their first home match of the season and reports indicate possible problems with the crowd at the Wankhede Stadium.
Rumors are also doing the rounds that the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has planned action against fans targeting Hardik.
However, MCA has denied this and said they will follow BCCI guidelines on crowd behavior.
“No instructions have been given for this particular game. Guidelines have been issued by BCCI on spectator behavior over the years, which is a process that is being followed,” read an MCA statement, as quoted by News 18.
Amid Hardik’s troubles, Ravinchandran Ashwin came out to vehemently support the MI captain.
Ashwin roundly blamed the prevailing atmosphere of ‘fan wars’ and ‘cinema culture’ for the hostile treatment of Pandya by the audience and in social media spaces, which started after the all-rounder replaced Rohit Sharma as MI captain ahead of IPL 2024.
“Fan wars should never be this ugly. You have to remember which country these players represent – our country. So, what justifies booing a cricketer? “I don’t understand. If you don’t like a player and abuse a player, why should a team come out and clarify,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel while answering a question from one of the fans.
Ashwin also brought up examples from the past when legends like Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly played under MS Dhoni, then a much younger cricketer, and put their egos aside.
“Sourav Ganguly played under Sachin Tendulkar and vice versa. These two have both played under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy. These three have played under Anil Kumble and all of them have played under Dhoni.
“When they were under Dhoni, these players were cricket jambhavans (veterans). Dhoni also played under Virat (Kohli),” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
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