It looks like, the fans have still not accepted Hardik Pandya as the skipper of Mumbai Indians. Ever since the announcement was made a couple of months back, to now, when against GT, Pandya made his captaincy debut for MI, he has been at the receiving end from the fans.
Pandya Booed
On Sunday, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Pandya was booed when he came out for the toss. Even former England skipper Kevin Pietersen was surprised to see the treatment meted out to Pandya. “I have never seen any Indian player getting booed like they are booing Hardik Pandya here in Ahmedabad. This is a rare happening,” Pietersen said on air.
It did not stop there. Pietersen went on to question, as to why Pandya opened the bowling himself, and not Bumrah. “Why is Jasprit Bumrah not opening the bowling? I don’t understand this”.
Pandya Back at ‘Birthplace’
At the toss, Pandya clarified that even though Gujarat is his birthplace, his cricketing birth happened in Mumbai. “Feels good to be back. My birthplace is Gujarat, a lot of success came in Gujarat, very grateful to the crowd and this state. My cricketing birth happened in Mumbai, so really good to be back,” Pandya said at the toss.
