Star Australian cricketer Steve Smith has offered valuable advice to Mumbai Indians’ (MI) captain Hardik Pandya, who has been facing a lot of jeers from the fans in the ongoing IPL 2024.
Smith encouraged Pandya to ignore the "irrelevant" boos, as the all-rounder has faced severe backlash from the crowd during MI's recent IPL 2024 matches against the Gujarat Titans (GT) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, respectively.
Pandya has been severely targeted by fans, both from his former team GT and his new team MI, after replacing Rohit Sharma as MI's captain, both in the stadium and on social media.
Well, Steve Smith suggested Pandya stay focused and block out the negativity to maintain his performance in the tournament.
Notably, Smith already faced abuse from fans across the world for his role in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. He was even called “cheat” by fans during the 2019 World Cup in England.
Steve Smith was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo: “I’d try and just say, to block it out, it’s all irrelevant. No one outside knows what you are going through. No one (from outside) is in that changing room. Personally, for me, it doesn’t bother me. I don’t care. I don’t pay any attention.”
He continued, “You know it’s all white noise, but certainly players do hear things and everyone’s entitled to their own emotions and how they respond to those. So, is it affecting him (Hardik)? Maybe. It’s possible. He probably hasn’t experienced that before in, in any walk of life.
So, it’s natural, I suppose, and particularly being in India and a star Indian player, to be in that position where some fans are booing you, it’s certainly something he wouldn’t have experienced.”
Speaking about MI’s performance under Hardik in the ongoing IPL 2024, Smith noted: “Hardik is in the middle of a challenging time, losing the first two games of their IPL season. It’s a big one for him. He’s filling big shoes with Rohit Sharma, who’s been the most successful captain (with Dhoni) in IPL history, lifting five titles, and it hasn’t started well for him.”
Mumbai Indians (MI) will play their first home game on April 1 in the ongoing IPL 2024, when they will host Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Wankhede Stadium. And Smith said: “So, he’s under a little bit of pressure at the moment and it’ll be interesting to see what the reception’s like in their first home game at Wankhede in a couple of days.”
He signed off by saying, “We have heard a few boos going around at the grounds, which’s been disappointing from my aspect. But I’m intrigued to see what the reception’s like in Mumbai. We know how big a star Rohit is and how much he is loved inside that stadium.”
(With PTI Inputs)
