IPL 2024: Booing continues for Hardik Pandya at the Wankhede Stadium

Fans during the Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals IPL game at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday. Pics/Sameer Markande

To say that Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya has been under pressure is an understatement. Replacing a five-time IPL-winning captain like Rohit Sharma was never going to be easy. Then, to suffer two back-to-back and comprehensive defeats in the first two IPL games of the season added to his woes.

And the fact that those defeats were peppered with some startling decisions, like opening the bowling with South African rookie Kwena Maphaka in place of pace ace Jasprit Bumrah and not using Bumrah effectively, and demoting himself down the batting order, made life even more difficult for skipper Pandya.

Hardik Pandya

MI fans are clearly unhappy with the change in captaincy and as expected made their feelings amply clear when they booed him at the Wankhede Stadium at the toss for the match against Rajasthan Royals on Monday. India batsman-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar had to literally ask the crowd to "behave" as the booing filled the iconic venue.

Also Read: IPL 2024: Mayank to face Bengaluru's stars at Chinnaswamy Stadium

Smiling all the way

Pandya, though, was seemingly calm and smiling throughout. In fact, he kept that smile on even for the hour-long pre-match practice routine, He bowled a bit during the session under the watchful eyes of head coach Mark Boucher before eagerly running across the ground to greet some of the RR players with a broad smile and hugs.

Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya during his 21-ball 34 v RR at Wankhede yesterday. Pic/PTI

He even met the match officials with a smile before sprinting across to the other end of the ground to greet India players-turned-commentators Harbhajan Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu - all this while keeping that smile intact.

One couldn't help but recall the iconic track from the 1983 Bollywood Classic, Arth, ‘Tum itna jo muskura rahe ho, kya gham hai jisko chupa rahe ho' (you are smiling so much, what is the grief that you are hiding).

Toss lost

Pandya lost the toss and was forced to bat on a pacy Wankhede track where, by his own admission, he preferred to bowl first. Not one to rue his luck though, Pandya did well with some responsible batting display on the night. Coming in with MI on the mat at 20-4in 3.3 overs, Pandya was greeted with an accurately quick Nandre Burger yorker, which he did well to dig out with his head down. Thereafter, he continued to keep that head down and work for his runs, replacing his otherwise flamboyant strokeplay with some well-controlled shots as he began accumulating both runs and MI fans in the bargain. He didn't last very long (34 runs off 21 balls with six fours) but it was a knock acknowledged by their fans. That's the reason not a single MI fan booed Pandya on his way back to the dugout after he holed out to Rovman Powell in the deep off Yuzvendra Chahal.

North Stand Gang member Shashank Wagh, 67, was among those MI fans who had a change of heart about Pandya. "The fact that Rohit Sharma was out for a duck and Pandya tried to hang in there for the team turned the tide in his favour. The Mumbai cricket fan is emotional, but always thinks about the team and, in this case, Pandya tried his best to bat for the team. No one booed him after he was out because everyone realised this," Wagh told mid-day at the Wankhede Stadium.

Manish Gahlot, 42, another MI fan, added: "The fact that Rohit failed also worked in Hardik's favour. Had Rohit scored a half-century, Hardik would have definitely had a hard time with the fans. But this was a collective batting failure for MI and Hardik alone could not be blamed."

Expert view

Well known psychiatrist Dr Devendra Save, 52, aptly summed up the Hardik Pandya episode: "Different athletes have different ways of dealing with pressure situations stemming from public criticism. Some get ultra-aggressive, but the most common method to suppress your anger or disappointment is to smile. Hardik did exactly this when he stepped onto the Wankhede turf this evening. He suppressed all his inner feelings with a constant smile. Once things settled, he put his head down to the batting and bowling aspect of things which obviously he is a professional at. Consequently, he won over the MI fans."

125
MI's total vs RR, in their third straight poor show in IPL