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Hardik Pandya continued to be targetted by irate Mumbai Indians fans as he was subjected to boos at the team's home ground, the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.
The stadium was filled with boos when Commentator Sanjay Manjrekar announced Pandya's name at the toss for the IPL 2024 match against the Rajasthan Royals on Monday, April 1, 2024.
'Behave,' Manjrekar told the fans in response to the boos.
This was the first time that Pandya was captaining MI in front of their home fans at the Wankhede stadium. He was jeered right from the moment he stepped out onto the field for warm-up exercises and also when he came out to bat.
Not only did the fans boo Pandya, they also chanted 'Rohit! Rohit!' in support of former MI captain Rohit Sharma.
'I have never seen a home captain getting booed like that,' former England captain Eoin Morgan remarked on Jio Cinema.
Hardik hasn't enjoyed a good start to his captaincy at MI, with the five-time champions losing their first three games. He top scored with a quickfire 34 from 21 balls against Royals.
Commentators Navjot Singh Sidhu and Harbhajan Singh comforted Hardik as they hugged the MI skipper while doing their pre-match show ahead of the game.
Pandya, who led Gujarat Titans to the IPL title in 2022 and the runners up finish last season, switched to his former franchise MI earlier this year.
