‘He plays for India’ – Virat Kohli requests Wankhede crowd to cheer for Hardik Pandya

Mumbai Indians’ captain Hardik Pandya has been bearing the brunt of constant boos from his own franchise supporters ever since he took the leadership role. The fans were clearly unhappy with the captaincy change when the MI think-tank replaced Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as the new skipper. Since then, Hardik Pandya is yet to collect good memories as a captain.

Be it at the toss or whenever he comes out to bat or when he comes to bowl, fans have expressed their frustration by booing him in the first place. During the recently-concluded game between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, when he came out to bat, several fans booed him. The incident once again became the major talking point on the internet.

Virat Kohli urges Wankhede crowd to support Hardik Pandya

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli who witnessed this scene put an end to this negative atmosphere by requesting the Wankhede crowd to cheer for Hardik Pandya. In a video clip that has been widely doing the rounds on social media, Virat Kohli can be seen requesting the Wankhede crowd to root for Hardik Pandya, adding that the latter plays for Team India. The former Indian skipper reminded the fans that Hardik Pandya is an Indian cricketer.

Virat Kohli reminding the crowd that Hardik Pandya is an Indian player. 👌

– Well done, Virat…!!!pic.twitter.com/fntdSMQSfS

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 11, 2024

Talking about the game, Mumbai Indians got the job done by acing the run-chase with relative ease. Batting first, RCB posted 196 for the loss of 8 wickets in their allotted quota of 20 overs. Captain Faf du Plessis top-scored with 61 off 40 balls, laced with 4 fours and 3 sixes. Dinesh Karthik chipped in with an unbeaten 53 off 23 balls including 5 fours and 4 sixes whereas Rajat Patidar scored 50 off 26 balls (3 fours, 4 sixes).

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On the other hand, MI chased down the target in 15.3 overs and won the game by seven wickets to notch up their second win of this season. Ishan Kishan top-scored with 69 off 34 balls including 7 fours and 5 sixes. Suryakumar Yadav made a stellar comeback to the game with his quickfire 52 off 19 (5 fours, 4 sixes) at an impressive strike rate of 273.68.