Fans boo Hardik Pandya at Wankhede; Sanjay Manjrekar asks them to 'behave'

MUMBAI: Hardik Pandya has seen better days as a cricketer before assuming captaincy of IPL team Mumbai Indian. Pandya who arrived at the Wankhede Stadium for the first home match of the season was received with boos by the home fans.

Pandya who came for the toss had to pass through a virulent crowd chanting abuses at the cricketer while praising former captain Rohit Sharma. Even the commentator Sanjay Vijay Manjrekar had to intervene as he asked the crowd to show some respect for the player. Alas, all such pleadings worked little among the fans who continued with the abuse and boos.

The crowd attitude was similar in Mumbai’s first two matches of the tournament. Even Indian cricketers including Ravichandran Ashwin came in support of Pandya and chastised the constant vilification and abuse hurled at the player.

Former England player Kevin Pietersen was taken aback seeing an Indian player getting booed on his home turf and called it an unprecedented event. On another note, Mumbai is facing a batting collapse against Rajasthan in the IPL tournament. Rohit Sharma was dismissed for a golden duck in Trent Boult’s delivery.