(Image source from: Twitter.com/mipaltan)
Once again, it was another day in the Indian Premier League for the Mumbai Indians, and once again, Hardik Pandya faced the wrath of the crowd. Ever since he took over as the skipper of MI, Pandya has been subjected to an unprecedented amount of hate on social media and at the stadium. This time, it happened at the Wankhede Stadium, the home ground of MI. As Pandya stepped out for the toss in their IPL match against the Rajasthan Royals on Monday, fans started booing him, while chants of 'Rohit... Rohit' echoed throughout the Wankhede Stadium. However, Pandya managed to win the crowd over with his batting performance. With the bat in his hand, he quickly changed the jeers into cheers by hitting six boundaries in his 21-ball 34, which helped his team recover from 20/4 to 76/5 in the 10th over. The cheers from the crowd were as loud as ever when Pandya smashed his first four, a stark contrast to the hostile reception earlier in the evening. Unfortunately, despite Pandya's efforts, the Mumbai Indians lost the match by six wickets, as they were restricted to a score of 125/9.
The franchise had to make a crucial decision regarding leadership during their recent away games in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. Pandya faced a negative response from a portion of the crowd during his warm-up exercise before the toss. This continued when his name was announced at the toss, but Pandya responded with a smile while the venue echoed with strong support for the former Mumbai skipper, Rohit. The jeers persisted as Pandya began speaking after losing the toss to Sanju Samson, the skipper of the Rajasthan Royals. Sanjay Manjrekar had to intervene and ask the crowd to show better behavior. At the same time, Rohit, dressed in his training attire, was having a meeting with his former teammate Harbhajan Singh, who was working as a commentator for the pre-match show.
As if the constant booing wasn't enough, Pandya faced more disapproval from the crowd, particularly from the Sachin Tendulkar stand, when he walked out to bat with his team struggling at 20/4 in the fourth over. Later, a video emerged showing Rohit seemingly requesting the crowd to stop booing his successor.
