Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Virat Kohli came to the rescue of Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya as he appealed to the Wankhede Stadium spectators to stop booing his national teammate.
Incidentally, there was a mix of emotions from the Wankhede crowd as Pandya walked into the middle to bat after former Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma was dismissed. In the meantime, Kohli gestured to the fans to stop booing Pandya and start applauding him. It was enough to get the 33,000 fans to get behind Pandya.
Pandya added to their sentiments by hitting the first ball for a six over long-on as the boos turned into cheered within a few minutes.
Watch the moment unfold here:
Kohli not appreciating the booing of hardik by Wankhede crowd. Telling them to cheer and reminding them he's an India player #MIvsRCB 👌 pic.twitter.com/ok5SYa3AkA
— Vighnesh Rane (@Vighrane01) April 11, 2024
Pandya has been in the thick of things in the IPL 2024. Fans on social media have been abuzz ever since Pandya was traded from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians and handed over the captaincy role.
The newly appointed captain has drawn a lot of flak from Rohit Sharma fans and was booed by the Gujarat Titans fans in Ahmedabad during his team’s IPL opener. It also looked like all is not well in the Mumbai Indians camp as the franchise slumped to three consecutive losses in a row.
In these testing times, former Australia captain Michael Clarke offered his support to Pandya. He revealed his chat with the Indian all-rounder, suggesting that he is a confident person and will manage to win over the Mumbai Indians fans if they start getting positive results.
