NEW DELHI: The crowd's hostility towards
Hardik Pandya
refuses to die down with fans booing the Mumbai Indians skipper without any respite. But
Rohit Sharma
displayed his empathy by pacifying the Wankhede crowd during MI's match against Rajasthan Royals on Monday.
While fielding on the boundary line, Rohit was seen gesturing towards the crowd to stop booing Hardik.
Earlier in the day, former India player Sanjay Manjrekar has also come out in support of Hardik and asked the Wankhede crowd to behave and for a big round of applause for MI skipper came for the toss.
Pandya was badly booed by the crowd in MI's first two matches played at Ahmedabad and Hyderabad in the
IPL 2024
but his homecoming did not bring any change of fortune.
The 29-year-old Pandya, who replaced Rohit as the captain of the Mumbai Indians in the lead-up to the tournament, has already been subjected to crowd's anger over the franchise's decision regarding leadership during the team's previous two away games at Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
Talking about the match, five-time champions MI suffered their third defeat of the season as Rajasthan Royals romped home for a third win on the trot.
After Yuzvendra Chahal (3/11) and Trent Boult (3/22) combined to suffocate Mumbai Indians with the bat, restricting them to 125/9,
Riyan Parag
(54 not out) churned out yet another top-drawer knock to take Rajasthan Royals to the first spot in the IPL points table.
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