Former Indian cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri believes that Mumbai Indians fans should be patient with skipper Hardik Pandya and stop booing him during the IPL 2024 matches. Hardik replaced Rohit Sharma as MI captain after completing a sensational trade from Gujarat Titans, but under his leadership the team has lost three consecutive matches in the league. The reaction from a section of the crowd was not exactly favorable when Hardik was booed during the home match against Rajasthan Royals. Shastri said that Hardik is a new captain and ultimately fans should remember that the all-rounder is a “human being like them”.
“You’ve supported the team over the years. In just 2-3 games they won’t be a bad team. They’re five-time champions, they have a new captain after all. Be patient, you know that guy you’re rooting for is a human being like you. Ultimately he has to sleep at night. So just think about it, be calm,” Ravi Shastri told Star Sports.
“My thing against Hardik would be ‘calm, patient, ignore and then just concentrate on your game’. You will get a few performances. They are a great team, if they win three to four games everything will go away. You will things are changing,” he added.
Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya on Tuesday asserted that the former champions will not give up and will continue to fight in the ongoing IPL despite a hat-trick of defeats.
“If there’s one thing you should know about this team, we never give up. We keep fighting, we keep going,” Hardik wrote on X.
Hardik has been facing the wrath of fans since he replaced Rohit Sharma as MI captain. The all-rounder was booed in the team’s first two matches and the crowd’s hostility was at its peak in MI’s first home match of the season on Monday.
To add to the woes, MI’s 2024 IPL campaign under his captaincy got off to a disastrous start as they sat bottom of the table after three defeats on the trot.
However, MI are known to be perennial slow starters. In 2015, they lost their first four games before winning the title.
Questions have also been raised about Hardik’s poor captaincy – whether it was down to giving the new ball to Bumrah or sending Tim David ahead against Gujarat Titans.
The change in captaincy is not well received by the legions of MI supporters. On Monday, chants of ‘Rohit Rohit’ filled the Wankhede, with the Indian captain himself asking the crowd not to boo Hardik.
Mumbai Indians play Delhi Capitals at home on Sunday.
(With PTI inputs)
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