The former Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma had to step in to stop the Mumbai crowd from mocking their captain, Hardik Pandya, after Mumbai Indians had another defeat to Rajasthan Royals in an IPL 2024 match at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday(01, April).
While fielding at the deep, Rohit gestured to the crowd and asked them to calm down and cut Hardik some slack, given his tough start as the captain of the team which has won five titles under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma.
However, it was anticipated that the atmosphere at the Wankhede Stadium would be different, as the MI crowd has been known to fully support the team over the years in the IPL. To the surprise of many, the Wankhede crowd targeted Hardik Pandya, booing their captain from the toss time only.
Our Rohit Sharma asking the crowd to stop the boo..Even He is Not Happy with it..so Please stop pic.twitter.com/MZwnRfe823
— Mumbai Indians TN (@MumbaiIndiansTN) April 1, 2024
The hooting was so loud that broadcaster Sanjay Manjrekar had to intervene and urge the crowd to “behave.”
Rohit Sharma didn’t directly talk about it like Sanjay Manjrekar did, but TV cameras caught the former captain signaling to the home crowd to support Hardik Pandya, who has been under a lot of pressure in the new season. Rohit gestured to the crowd while fielding along the boundary line.
