IPL 2024: “Not Hardik's fault that he's been appointed captain,” Ganguly sympathizes with MI skipper amid crowd hostility

Hardik Pandya is facing the crowd backlash at different venues, including loud boos and ‘Rohit, Rohit’ chants.

Hardik Pandya’s captaincy stint for Mumbai Indians (MI) hasn’t got off to the best of starts. Under his leadership, the five-time champions have lost their first three games in the ongoing IPL 2024 season.

Amid the losses, Hardik is also facing the crowd backlash at different venues, including loud boos and ‘Rohit, Rohit’ chants.

During MI’s last match at the Wankhede Stadium, Pandya was booed by the fans as soon as his name was called out before the toss against Rajasthan Royals (RR).

Meanwhile, former India skipper and Delhi Capitals' (DC) Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly has extended his support to Hardik Pandya, saying that the fans behavior has not been pleasing and urged them not to boo the latter

Notably, Pandya completed a high-profile trade from Gujarat Titans (GT) to MI ahead of the IPL 2024 auction. Soon after the trade, the all-rounder was appointed captain by the management. He is succeeding Rohit Sharma, who led MI to five IPL titles in his 11-year stint as skipper.

"I don't think they should boo Hardik Pandya. It's not correct," Ganguly told media during DC’s training session at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday (April 6).

"It's not correct. The franchisee has appointed him as captain. That's what happens in sport. Whether you captain India or you captain a state or whether you captain your franchise, you are appointed as captain.

"He's (been) appointed captain. Obviously, with Rohit Sharma he's a different class. His performance for this franchise, his performance for India has been at a different level as captain and as a player," he further said.

"But then it's not Hardik's fault that he's been appointed as captain. All of us need to understand that," he added.

Talking about MI’s campaign, they suffered defeats against the Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad in their first two games. While the five-time champions lost to GT by 6 runs in Ahmedabad, they endured a 31-run thrashing at the hands of SRH in Hyderabad.

In their first home fixture, Mumbai Indians succumbed to a crushing 6-wicket defeat against Rajasthan Royals. MI’s next match is scheduled against DC at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday (April 7).