Former England captain Michael Vaughan gave his take on Hardik Pandya getting booed by cricket fans inside the stadium in the ongoing season of Indian Premier League. Pandya has been under the pump since he took over the captaincy charge of Mumbai Indians from Rohit Sharma which left the fans fuming. They have turned their back on the flamboyant all-rounder who rejoined MI after spending a couple of seasons in Gujarat Titans.
Pandya‘s tenure as MI captain also started on a disappointing note with three losses in a row as the five-time champions are currently placed at the bottom of the table.
Vaughan suggested that the big debate in IPL currently is whether MI will re-appoint Rohit as their captain after the fans’ reaction towards Pandya.
“The big debate is whether Rohit Sharma will end up back as captain. That has caused a lot of drama here in India. The booing… I have to say, the Indian crowd just loves cricket. I have never heard them boo. I’ve certainly never heard them boo one of their own. I get the booing when he played at (Ahmedabad) against the Gujarat Titans. He’s left them and joined Mumbai. He took them to a title. So I get that in a pantomime kind of way,” Vaughan said on the Club Prairie Fire podcast with former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist.
The former England skipper further said that it was a bit shocking for him to see Pandya get booed by the home crowd at Wankhede Stadium as he has never seen the Indian fans boo their own in the past.
“But for him to go to Hyderabad and get booed and then come to Wankhede and get booed by the Mumbai Indians fans while he is playing for them, I’m staggered by it. I have never seen the Indian crowd boo one of their own. It’s remarkable,” he added.
Gilchrist, who was also part of the conversation, shared his views on MI management’s big decision to move on from Rohit to Pandya as their leader.
“It shows you the status that Rohit Sharma has in the game there. The mysterious manner with which it all played out initially, the pace with which it happened, everyone was stunned with Mumbai getting Hardik Pandya away from Gujarat and then Rohit relinquishing captaincy. It’s an odd one. But this is the nature of the beast in the IPL. The tribalism and intensity within fan bases. It’s hard to replicate anywhere else with that level of intensity,” Gilchrist explained.
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