Hardik Pandya, the captain of the Mumbai Indians (MI), faced backlash from fans following the team’s defeat against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the fifth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.
MI’s disappointing loss
After winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, MI’s bowlers were successful in restricting GT to a total of 168/6 in 20 overs. However, their batting performance fell short as they failed to chase the target, ultimately losing the match by 6 runs.
Anger from fans
During the game, Pandya was booed by the Ahmedabad crowd. This negative reaction can be attributed to the fact that Pandya previously captained the Gujarat Titans, leading them to a title win in thei𝓀r inaugural season and to the finals in the second season. His decision to leave GT and join MI did not sit well with the Gujarat fans, leading to their disappointment and subsequent booing of ꦍthe MI captain.
Social media hate
Additionally, on social media platforms, Pandya faced a barrage of criticism for his captaincy style. Fans expressed their anger and frustration, pointing out what they perceived as an attitude problem with the cricketer. Many blamed Pandya for Mumbai’s loss in their first match of the IPL 2024 season.
Also WATCH: IPL 2024 – Rohit Sharma engages in intense exchange with Hardik Pandya after MI’s defeat to GT
Here is how fans reacted:
i blame Ambani's and Hardik Pandya for MI's defeat
— kimmie⁷🍷 (@btsholiiic)
The New Skipper of MI just wanted to showcase his leadership skill to all,in a different way.He should have come before Tim,who♔ was not good against Spin.
This caused pressure at the crunch moment & yeah,MI perished only because of the Skipper's ego !
— Solomon Raj (@Solomon94943272)
Irfan Pathan: 🗣️
" Hardik Pandya didn't want to face Rashid Khan and he sent Tim David, that's where Mumbai Indians lost the match. Poor captaincy."
— ANSHUMAN🚩 (@AvengerReturns)
Hardik Pandya makes sure he contributes in mi's every defeat what a guy.
— aryan (@abearyann)
Imagine disrespecting a 5 time IPL winning captain and ur previous ipl and current national captain like this
Hardik pandya's behaviour towards Rohit Sharma proves that he is a chapri— U M A R (@Agrumpycomedian)
I cannꦗot ffs. This guy has almost won India a World Cup and here some upgraded version of Daniel Sams telling him what to do on field. Cricket is hurting.
— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu)
The P▨andya after getting so much hate is thinking fuk🎃at me Mera PR ho raha hai.😃
Fans are feeling🍰 disgusted with his♐ attitude and the way he made to move here and there.
This is the respect for that can't bought by money.
— Socialscript (@Suryascript)
The crowd went crazy for Rohit Sharma as they are chanting Roh🎉it Rℱohit 🔥
Cheap Hardik Pandya showing attitude to Hitman
— • (@introvert_lub)
Congratulations Gujrat boy's ✊
Even MI Supporters are happy on this defeat because it's Hardik Pandya's defeat.
— Harsh Tiwari (@harsht2024)
Shubman Gill wanted to follow the footsteps of hౠis Rohit bhai and in the first match𒉰 itself he showed Hardik his level.🔥
Gill knows that Captain Rohit was always with him no matter what so he destroyed chapri pandya for his R🐎ohit bhai.
Well done my Gill boy.🙌❤
— Jyran (@Jyran45)
After the match, Pandya reflected on Mumbai Indians’ defeat and identified the loss of momentum as the main factor behind their inability to secure a victory. Despite a solid start to their innings, Pandya acknowledged that his team failed to maintain the same level of intensity and control throughout the match.
“Obviously we backed ourselves to chase those 42 runs but it was one of those days when we see the score quite less compared to what it could have been in five overs, I think we lost little bit of momentum there,” said Pandya in the post-match presentation.
