Watch: Sanjay Manjrekar, the presenter at the toss during Mumbai Indians’ home game against Rajasthan Royals, asked the crowd to “behave” after MI skipper Hardik Pandya was greeted with a round of boos.
Hardik, who replaced Rohit Sharma as captain of Mumbai Indians ahead of the season, has faced a hostile reception in the 2024 IPL thus far. Having made his IPL debut with Mumbai in 2015, Hardik then moved to captain Gujarat Titans in 2022 before an all-cash trade saw him returning to his first franchise. He was also named skipper of the team, having previously led Gujarat Titans to two consecutive titles, with Rohit playing as a pure batter instead.
The move has not gone down well with fans, who have booed him constantly in the first two Mumbai Indians games, in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
Read: The hate towards new Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya is unwarranted
Mumbai Indians are playing their first home game of the season today (April 1) and the boos were even louder at the Wankhede Stadium. Ahead of the toss, when Manjrekar introduced Hardik and Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson, the crowd jeered their new skipper. It forced Manjrekar to ask the supporters to give Hardik a round of applause instead/
“We’re all set for the toss here. Got the two captains with me – Hardik Pandya, the captain of Mumbai Indians. Big round of applause, ladies and gentlemen,” Manjrekar said, with the crowd then booing. “Behave,” Manjrekar then said.
The boos did not stop, though, and were louder when Hardik came to speak to Manjrekar, with the sound drawing out his voice at one point. After Manjrekar finished his interview with Hardik, he asked him to have a good game and that he was a “champion cricketer”.
Earlier, R Ashwin also extended his support to Hardik, asking the “ugly” fan wars to stop.
Watch the toss here:
🚨 Toss 🚨@rajasthanroyals win the toss and elect to bowl against @mipaltan #TATAIPL | #MIvRR pic.twitter.com/pziDfHNIci
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 1, 2024
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