The Mumbai Indians (MI) plan to stop the crowd from heckling or harassing Hardik Pandya has backfired. Before the MI vs RR match, the franchise released a set of ‘tips’ for fans to follow. While the franchise’s heart was in the right place, it stopped die-hard Rohit Sharma fans from entering the stadium with posters supporting their idol.
The reason why the rules were enforced was to protect MI’s new skipper from being booed or abused by the crowd. The franchise decided to curb offensive behavior during the match. If any of these rules were to be violated, the individual would be ejected from the stadium.
The unfortunate thing is that, despite enforcing such strict rules, Pandya was booed by the crowd. Having reached the middle for the toss, when Sanjay Manjrekar announced his name, the crowd started jeering. Perplexed by the crowd’s behavior toward Hardik, Manjrekar intervened and told the crowd to behave.
