It seems like fan wars over the captaincy saga at the Mumbai Indians (MI) camp have taken an ugly route in the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Before Hardik Pandya marshalled his troops for Mumbai’s first home game of the new season, supporters booed Rohit Sharma’s successor at the traditional coin toss. A packed Wankhede Stadium expressed their reservations about Hardik – the captain, following his ascension to the captaincy throne in his homecoming game.
Hardik was at the receiving end of fans’ booing after former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar gave the MI skipper a traditional welcome in Mumbai. “Two captains with me – Hardik Pandya, captain of the Mumbai Indians, a big round of applause, ladies and gentlemen,” Manjrekar said before the coin toss. Instead of receiving a hero’s welcome, Hardik was treated like an away team player as if he was not playing for the home side. With Hardik receiving a hostile reception from MI fans at Wankhede, Manjrekar issued the crowd an early warning. “Behave,” Manjrekar thundred on-air.
Sanjay Manjrekar tells Wankhede crowd to ‘behave’ over Hardik boos
After Manjrekar came out in strong support of Hardik at the coin toss, the MI skipper was all smiles as the India all-rounder confirmed that the host side has picked an unchanged playing XI against the 2008 champions. “We were planning to bowl first. It’s quite exciting to be a part of this game. We always look forward to the future, need to follow the process. Looking forward to playing a brand of cricket everyone enjoys. Playing the same team,” Hardik said after RR skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and opted to bowl first in MI’s backyard.
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