Hardik Pandya was booed again, this time at the home of Mumbai Indians.Chant of ‘Rohit…Rohit’ at Wankhede Stadium | Cricket News

A now familiar scene unfolded at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai as Indian cricket team captain Hardik Pandya was booed by the crowd. Hardik Pandya returns to his old team after two seasons at the helm of Gujarat Titans (GT), taking over from Rohit Sharma as MI captain. Hardik Pandya has faced jeers and boos from a section of fans as well as scrutiny from former India players.

To add insult to injury, the five-time IPL champions had their worst start to the season, losing their first game to GT and their second game to Sunrisers Hyderabad.

A video of Pandya being booed went viral. “I have never seen a home captain being booed like this,” England World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan said on Jio Cinema.

Hardik Pandya was booed by the crowd and how. It was really bad and loud…it should be over now. Kab tak yahi hoga?#IPL2024 #MIvsRR pic.twitter.com/itP8CEfBAi

— Vinesh Prabhu (@vlp1994) April 1, 2024

After being booed by fans in Hyderabad, the MI skipper did not receive a warm welcome at his home venue, Wankhede Stadium, where fans continued to boo the all-rounder.

Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya pays tribute to Mumbai Indians (MI) during their match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) during the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season on Monday (MI) Captain Hardik Pandya booed and former India player and cricket commentator Sanjay Manjrekar asked the Wankhede crowd to “behave”.

When Manjrekar introduced Hardik as MI captain, the fans did not hesitate to express their views and booed the 30-year-old.

Introducing the captains of both teams during the toss, Manjrekar asked the crowd to “behave” as they booed the newly appointed MI skipper for the third consecutive match.

“Two captains with me, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya, big round of applause, ladies and gentlemen. Manner!” Manjrekar said in a video posted by IPL on X.

At that moment, Rohit, wearing his training uniform, was meeting his former teammate Harbhajan Singh, who was on the field as one of the commentators on the pre-match show, news agency PTI reported.

If they weren’t enough, Pandya once again found himself at the receiving end of the crowd’s displeasure, especially in the Sachin Tendulkar stands, when he walked out to bat while trailing at 20/4 in the fourth over.

Furthermore, fans were allowed to enter the stadium only after the banners were confiscated as per instructions issued by the Election Commission to the Mumbai Police, according to local officials.

However, there was an element of miscommunication and misunderstanding as the directive was about not allowing political banners, but fans took to social media to complain that all the banners were taken away.

Still, some fans were able to get in with banners.

With ANI and PTI inputs