Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya is facing a lot of negative reaction from the fans in the ongoing IPL 2024 and the all-rounder even made a speech at his home ground at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai was booed. After a blockbuster trade by the Gujarat Titans, Hardik replaced Rohit Sharma as the team’s captain, but the decision did not go down well with a section of MI fans. When Mumbai Indians suffered a three-run defeat at the start of the tournament, things didn’t get any better and the crowd’s reaction to Hardik got worse. It was a similar story when MI hosted Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday, but Virat Kohli was not happy with the crowd’s performance.

When Hardik came out to bat, the crowd started booing but Kohli signaled them to stop and cheer the player. In a video that went viral on social media, Kohli also reminded viewers that they had witnessed Hardik’s growth as a cricketer and eventually, he became the star of the Indian cricket team.

The reaction from the crowd was almost instantaneous as a section of the crowd started chanting “Hardik Hardik” and the MI captain responded by slamming Will Jacks for a six, much to the delight of the crowd.

Former India cricket team spinner Harbhajan Singh was delighted with Kohli’s support for Hardik and hailed the star batsman as a “very, very good athlete”.

Harbhajan told Star Sports: “Virat Kohli supporting Hardik Pandya and telling the audience not to boo Hardik and cheer him is a sign of a great player and a very good athlete .”

Coming to the match, Mumbai Indians easily defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets thanks to the outstanding performance of Jasprit Bumrah and Ishan Kishan.