Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Ahead of the Mumbai Indians match against the Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium in IPL 2024, there have been reports of Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) taking action against fans and cricket enthusiasts booing the MI skipper Hardik Pandya. However, the MCA has come forward and refuted these reports.
Notably, these reports surfaced after the Indian all-rounder led MI to two defeats on the trot. It is to be noted that Hardik Pandya has been on the receiving end of the MI fans ever since he replaced Rohit Sharma at the helm. As per a report published by Lokmat Times on Saturday, March 30, the MCA has increased the security and crowd will be closely monitored during the match. If fans are found taunting or harassing Hardik, they will be detained and removed from the stadium.
But the MCA has denied them, calling them “baseless rumours”. The MCA in its statement said, “There are rumours that MCA has instructed security against people who support Rohit or boo Hardik, this is incorrect and baseless rumours, no instructions have been given.”
The 30-year-old has received hostile reception from fans in Ahmedabad as well as Hyderabad. While MI lost their IPL 2024 tournament opener against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad by six runs, they faced their second defeat on the trot at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad against Sunrisers Hyderabad by 31 runs.
The Hardik Pandya-led MI currently are placed at the bottom of the points table with a -0.925 Net Run Rate (NRR) and are yet to open their win account in the tournament.
