Fans shouldn’t boo Hardik Pandya, it’s not correct: Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly, former India captain and director of cricket at Delhi Capitals, came out in support of Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya, saying that fans booing him should stop.

The India all-rounder was appointed the Mumbai Indians captain ahead of the start of the season after signing him from Gujarat Titans. Fans were seemingly hurt by the franchise’s decision to replace India skipper Rohit Sharma with Hardik as the captain.

While Hardik’s signing was seen as a game-changer, his ascension to captain meant that he’s gotten boos from fans wherever Mumbai have played so far. Most prominently, that includes the home venue of Wankhede Stadium too, where they take on Delhi Capitals on Sunday.

“I don’t think they (fans) should boo Hardik Pandya. It’s not correct. The franchise has appointed him as captain. That’s what happens in sports. Whether you captain India or you captain a state, or whether you captain your franchise, you’re appointed as captain. It’s not Hardik’s fault that he’s been appointed as captain. So I think all of us need to understand that,” Ganguly said at the pre-match press conference.

While the former BCCI president backed Hardik, he was all praise for Rohit too.

“Rohit Sharma is a different class. His performance for this franchise (Mumbai) and India has been on a different level as captain and as a player,” he said.

In Mumbai’s first home game, Hardik was booed by the fans as soon as his name was called out before the toss which led to Sanjay Manjrekar to call for the crowd to ‘behave.’

“MI captain Hardik Pandya. Big round of applause, ladies and gentlemen. Behave,” Manjrekar said as he introduced the skipper and the fans booed the captain in something that has become a regular occurrence in this season of the Indian Premier League. There were loud chants for the former skipper Rohit Sharma as well.

While Hardik has kept his calm and not spoken about the treatment meted out to him so far, he’ll hope that a superlative performance by him and his team will turn the boos into cheers. So far, Mumbai Indians’ campaign has been abysmal with three defeats in as many matches. And Hardik would want to change that when they take on Delhi in the sweltering Mumbai afternoon heat on Sunday.

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