With the video of Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya ordering his predecessor Rohit Sharma around on the field, changing his fielding position going viral, netizens have slammed him for allegedly disrespecting the veteran opener. Fans on social media have accused the 30-year-old seam-bowling all-rounder of carrying too much ego since coming into the role and 'ordering' around Rohit.
One of the incidents occurred when only two balls were left in the 20th over of Gujarat Titans' innings and Gerald Coetzee was bowling it. Hardik was spotted standing beside the right-arm pacer and was making some field adjustments.
The IPL 2024 match between the Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans was arguably the most anticipated one and it started with boos for Hardik from the Ahmedabad Stadium. The Baroda-born cricketer shifted base in the IPL to the Mumbai Indians after captaining the Titans for a couple of years. However, fans were most upset when Hardik replaced Rohit as MI captain despite the latter captaining the franchise to a record-equalling five titles since becoming captain in 2013.
Here's how netizens have reacted to Hardik Pandya changing Rohit Sharma's fielding position:
Hardik Pandya fails with the bat as Mumbai Indians fall 6 runs short of the target:
Meanwhile, the five-time champions failed to chase down a modest yet tricky target of 169 in their stipulated 20 overs despite being well placed in the 13th over of the innings. After Rohit Sharma playing an ill-advised sweep when on 43 against Sai Kishore, Mumbai Indians' innings went off the tracks.
With 19 required off the final over, Hardik Pandya perished after hitting a maximum and a boundary, with his own score reading 11 off 4 deliveries. Umesh Yadav, who bowled the 20th over of the innings, also got Piyush Chawla to end the tourists' hopes. B Sai Sudharsan emerged as the Player of the Match for his 39-ball 45.
