Former England captain Kevin Peterson has lashed out at fans who have been booing Hardik Pandya throughout the tournament. Fans have been against Hardik Pandya since the time he was appointed as the captain of the Mumbai Indians.
Pandya was hit for three back-to-back sixes by Ms. Dhoni in Mumbai’s last game against CSK, which they lost by 20 runs.
However, former England player Kevin Peterson has extended his support to Hardik Pandya.
Speaking about Hardik on Star Sports, Kevin Peterson said, “It’s clearly affecting Hardik. I’ve seen how crazy it’s gone all over social media. And having been right in the mix of this 10 years ago when I left the England team and all the nonsense that was happening there—being booed at home, being a villain in the streets, going into restaurants, and people looking at you funny—this affects you away from the game of cricket.”
Peterson also said that his life has been quite similar to Hardik Pandya and may affect his cricketing career in the near future.
Speaking about the same, Peterson said, “It’s not just about you; it affects your family. And that’s the fear for what’s happening for me with Hardik at the moment: that this is going to hurt him for a very, very long time. When he finishes his Indian career, when he finishes playing cricket, it’s still going to hurt him, and that’s why something drastic has to be done.”
Kevin Peterson further added, “But it still hurts me absolutely, massively. I mean, you have a look at the reception sometimes that I get in England on occasions; just have a look at my social media feed. I mean, once you have an imprint like that on and the perception is there about the individual, it’s hard to change perception. I mean, I’ve been coming to India for the last 25 years; I have never, ever heard this sort of noise towards one player.”
The former England player feels that something needs to be done to get Pandya out of all this; otherwise, India’s chances at the World Cup could be hampered by the same.
