Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya has once again faced the wrath of the Wankhede Stadium crowd, despite the team’s recent resurgence. During the IPL 2024 match against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, Pandya was booed by fans and subjected to chants of “Rohit Rohit.”
This negative reaction from the MI fanbase stems from Pandya’s appointment as skipper, replacing the popular Rohit Sharma. The team’s initial struggles in the competition further fueled the discontent, but recent wins have provided some respite.
Despite Virat Kohli’s plea to the crowd to support Pandya, who represents India, the boos continued. The incident highlights the pressure and scrutiny that comes with captaining a high-profile franchise like Mumbai Indians.
Pandya, however, remained unfazed by the crowd’s reaction. He won the toss and opted to field against Chennai Super Kings, citing the potential impact of dew later in the evening.
“We would like to bowl first, dew will come into play. It (pitch) looks better than the last game, expecting a lot of runs. Need to stick to the basics. Winning is very important to get the momentum. We were able to win two games convincingly. That’s the beauty about IPL, everyone has to contribute. Your team will be able to achieve goals eventually. The dew started coming post 10 overs (in the last game.) It gets heavier in the evening. Same team,” Pandya said at the toss.
The match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings featured several notable players. Mumbai’s lineup included Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, and Jasprit Bumrah, while Chennai fielded Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, and Shardul Thakur.