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Hardik Pandya replaced Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians' (MI) captain in IPL 2024 after the former had gotten traded to the franchise from Gujart Titans. Though Pandya had successfully led the Gujarat-based franchise to the title in 2022, the MI fanbase wasn't a fan of the move. This resulted in the all-rounder getting booed in almost every stadium he played in during the tournament.
The alll-rounder ended up facing a lot of boos even at MI's home venue, Wankhede stadium. Notably, the crowd had erupted with boos when Sanjay Manjrekar had announced Pandya's name on the mic during the toss. The reception was so hostile that Manjrekar himself had to ask the crowd to 'behave'.
Now, current vice-president of the BCCI, Rajeev Shukla has remarked that Rohit Sharma's fans weren't happy with Pandya's appointment as the skipper and that is why heavily booed the latter in almost every match. He also revealed that Pandya always knew that the crowd would react that way.
“When such incidents happen, people within the BCCI do reach out to players not to worry. In Hardik's case, Rohit Sharma's fan base did not like it. But the matter is done. Neither did Rohit Sharma provoke anybody, and Hardik always knew this could happen and was mature,” Shukla said in an interview on the official YouTube handle of the UPT20 league.
“He did not let it affect him. He did not get emotionally carried away. Then, when you start performing, fans start applauding by themselves again,” he added.
T20 World Cup completely changed Pandya's fortunes
It looked like the fans would continue booing Pandya in the next IPL season as well, however his brilliant performance for India in the 2024 T20 World Cup turned the tide completely. The 31-year-old finished the tournament with 11 wickets, including a terrific spell of 3/20 in the final against South Africa.
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After India's victory in the final, fans started cheering for Pandya once again and were completely behind him during IPL 2025. Both Pandya and MI had a rather successful IPL campaign this year with the side dominating in the league stage and reaching the playoffs. They were eventually denied of moving into the final by the Punjab Kings, who eliminated them in the second qualifier.
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