Mumbai Indians handed over the captaincy duties to Hardik Pandya ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season. It was not a popular decision by any stretch of the imagination considering Pandya replaced the fan-favourite Rohit Sharma. But, irrespective of the sport, positive results can win over any fan base.
Worst Possible Start For Hardik In IPL 2024
For Hardik, it would have been a dream start, had MI won the first two games. But MI remain winless after two IPL 2024 rounds, and the fans have turned against their captain. It’s no secret that MI’s fan base is heavily titled towards Rohit Sharma, who led the franchise to five league titles, with many fans also seeing Rohit’s removal as captain as an untoward disrespect to him.
R Ashwin Throws Support Behind Hardik Pandya
Now amidst all the criticism and trolling Hardik Pandya is enduring at the moment, and the continuous silence from Mumbai Indians hierarchy, Pandya’s Indian team-mate and Rajasthan Royals player, Ravichandran Ashwin, has come in support of the MI captain.
Highlight the issue during a live stream on his YouTube channel, R Ashwin stressed the need to stop the ongoing fan conflict on social media, while labelling them as toxic.
“Neither has any role to play. Neither the franchise nor the player has a role to play in this at all. I think the responsibility and the onus lies on the fans,” Ashwin said.
“Have you seen this happen in any other country? Have you seen Joe Root and Zak Crawley fans fight? Or have you seen Joe Root and Jos Buttler fans fight? It’s crazy. Have you seen Steve Smith and Pat Cummins fans fight in Australia?
“I’ve said this many times. This is cricket. This is a cinema culture. I know there are things like marketing, positioning and branding. I don’t deny it. I don’t believe in all this on my side but it’s not wrong to indulge either. Fan wars should never go in this ugly a route. One should remember which country these players represent- our country. So then what warrants a cricketer getting booed?” Ashwin said.
Sachin Played Under Ganguly And Dhoni
Ashwin emphasized that a senior player playing under a young captain shouldn’t be an issue as this happened in the past. He pointed out that Sachin Tendulkar played under Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni, while Ganguly also played under Rahul Dravid and vice versa.
“I don’t understand. If you don’t like a player and boo a player, why should a team come out to issue a clarification? We act like this has not happened before. (Sourav) Ganguly played under Sachin (Tendulkar) and vice versa. These two have both played under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy. These three have played under Anil Kumble and all of them have played under Dhoni. When they were under Dhoni, these players were cricket jambhavans (giants). Dhoni too played under Virat,” he said.
The greatest-ever cricketer Sir Don Bradman played under different captains, as did the great Shane Warne under Ricky Ponting. Virat Kohli also continues to play under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy across all formats.
