'Only Rohit Sharma is MI's captain': Hardik Pandya's massive shots changes boos into cheers during MI vs RR match [Reactions]

Ever since Hardik Pandya was named as Mumbai Indians captain, he has been getting massively trolled for his below-average captaincy. Hardik Pandya led MI failed to win a single match in the ongoing IPL 2024 tournament. The crowd booed Hardik during all three matches. During SRH vs MI as well as MI vs GT and also amid MI vs RR.

The captain faced the ire of fans on the field as well as on social media.

Fans are unhappy that India's captain Rohit Sharma, who has been captain for MI for over years was replaced.

From memes to hatred, Hardik Pandya has been facing every bit of hate from fans of the franchise.

Hardik Pandya was booed during the toss

As soon as Hardik Pandya and Rajasthan Royals captain came for a toss, chants of "Rohit... Rohit" reverberated across the stadium as well as the crowd booed Hardik's name.

At the toss, which was won by Sanju Samson, the skipper of the Royals, Manjrekar, while introducing Pandya, said, " Ladies and Gentle Hardik Pandya, captain of the Mumbai Indians, please give a big round of applause and behave".

This statement from Manjrekar came in light of alleged booing that Pandya has received in the last two matches as captain of the MI team in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. This is the first home game for Pandya after being appointed as the skipper of the Mumbai outsit and Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) issued a stern warning against heckling Pandya by the crowd.

Mumbai Indians failed to win a single match

Mumbai Indians lost three wickets very early in the match. Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir and Dewald Brevis - all departed for first-ball ducks as Trent Boult created mayhem in the batting lineup.

Hardik came in at no. 6 when Mumbai was at 20 for 4 and started to counterattack the Rajasthan bowling.

Hardik started to hit shots which went well with the crowd.

Pandya's aggressive approach created some momentum for Mumbai and Wankhede embraced Hardik with loud cheers. The commentators hailed Pandya for his stellar batting and said the Mumbai captain won the hearts of the MI fans. Pandya scored 34 runs off 21 balls before getting hold out to the deep in the bowling of Yuzvendra Chahal.

Commentator Simon Doull said, "Thirty-Five minutes ago during the Toss they were booing. But now they are cheering for Hardik Pandya. This is the way Mumbai Indians are going to play under captain Hardik Pandya."

From ply cards to fans chanting Rohit. It has been a tough time for Hardik.

Reacting to the MI's third defeat in as many games in IPL 2024, Hardik during a post-match presentation said, "We didn't start the way we wanted to, tough night tonight. Results, sometimes it happens it doesn't. I don't think much surprises me anymore. But as a group, we believe we can pull off a lot of better things going forward and we just need to be more disciplined and show more courage."

He added, "I think we were in a decent position to give us a chance to get to 150 or 160 but I think my wicket changed the game and brought them more in the game and I think I could have done better. It's good to have something for the bowlers as well. The game is quite cruel to the bowlers. But it was unexpected. It's all about doing the right things."

Meanwhile, RR captain Sanju Samson admitted that winning the toss was a game-changer for Rajasthan.