“Rohit Sharma Appeals to Wankhede Crowd to Stop Booing Hardik Pandya as MI Suffers Crushing Defeat”

In Short

• Rohit Sharma was seen signalling the Mumbai crowd to stop booing Hardik Pandya
• The Wankhede crowd kept booing its home captain, Hardik
• Mumbai were handed a crushing 6-wicket defeat on Monday by Rajasthan

Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians’ former captain, intervened during the team’s IPL 2024 match against Rajasthan Royals at Wankhede Stadium on Monday, urging the home crowd to refrain from booing their current captain, Hardik Pandya.

Despite Mumbai Indians enduring a heavy defeat, Sharma signaled to the crowd from the boundary, requesting them to show support to Pandya, who has faced significant pressure at the start of the season.

Pandya had previously faced criticism from the crowd during Mumbai Indians’ matches in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. However, the expectation was that the Wankhede crowd would support their team captain, given their history of strong backing for the team.

To the surprise of many, the crowd booed Pandya even before the coin toss, prompting broadcaster Sanjay Manjrekar to intervene and call for better behavior.

While not as direct as Manjrekar, Sharma’s gesture was captured by television cameras, as he signaled to the crowd while fielding along the boundary.

Despite Pandya’s efforts with the bat, top-scoring with 34 runs, Mumbai Indians suffered a lackluster loss, managing just 125 runs before Rajasthan Royals chased down the target in 15.3 overs.

The defeat saw Mumbai Indians at the bottom of the points table in IPL 2024, without a win after three rounds of matches.

With a six-day break before their next match against Delhi at Wankhede Stadium on April 7, Mumbai Indians will have time to regroup and reconsider their strategies.