Fans need to learn to live with change, just like players

MI’s Hardik Pandya (left) and Rohit Sharma celebrate the wicket of RCB’s Parthiv Patel at Wankhede in 2019. Pic/AFP

Mumbai Indians seem to have turned a corner on Sunday, with an all-round show ensuring their first win in four outings in the Indian Premier League 2024. Crowd favourite Rohit Sharma led from the front, with West Indian power-hitter Romario Shepherd providing the finishing flourish. The bowlers closed it out.

It was nice to see the crowd get behind their local team wholeheartedly. Admittedly, a special initiative meant underprivileged children outnumbered the regular crowd by a fair bit, and this could have even drowned out any noise made by naysayers. Nonetheless, we can only hope that the trend continues, and the fans throw their weight behind the team. Franchises do what is best in their interest and replacing an ageing captain with a player they think can lead the team over the next few years is a standard decision in sporting circles.

While it is understandable that fans may have their preferences, booing a player from their team is just not done. And while the bad old days when players' homes used to get attacked following poor performances are, mercifully, behind us, there is no denying social media is a different beast these days.

Indeed, even as all seemed well at the Wankhede, there was still a fair amount of trolling of Hardik Pandya on social media even on Sunday, as the skipper put in a slightly underwhelming show with the bat, individually.

The current controversy is also as good a time as any for players, who look to social media to develop their brand equity, to understand that sentiments could as easily swing against them. All they can do is to become mentally tougher to take both bouquets and brickbats with equanimity. Easier said than done, but it is the only thing that will help them perform well, which is the only way to win back favour of fans.