The outrage against Hardik Pandya ever since he replaced Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians captain has only grown since the beginning of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 and things have only gone from bad to worse for the team after two defeats in as many games.
MI got crushed by Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium where Pandya was booed every time he was involved in the game.
The all-rounder got a hostile reception from Indian cricket fans once again at the toss and throughout the 3.5-hour contest at Uppal.
Even outside the venue, fans in Hyderabad were seen throwing slippers and shoes at Pandya when he came on TV at the post-match interview. A video is going viral which shows people throwing their footwear at the live cricket screen with Pandya on air.
A bunch of guys first threw their slippers at the screen but then started chucking whatever they could find closeby at Pandya.
The exact location of the incident remains unknown.
The 33-year-old had faced something similar in Ahmedabad where MI played their first match of IPL 2024 last week. Pandya was booed at the toss and every time he had the ball in his hand and also when he came out to bat.
Fans were angered when Rohit was removed as the captain by the Mumbai team management even after he won 5 IPL titles for the franchise. Pandya was named as his successor looking at the future of MI.
A video of fans calling Pandya a "chapri" (Hindi slang used to refer to a person who is perceived as low-class or lacking sophistication) directly at his face also surfaced on the internet and went viral after their defeat against Gujarat Titans on March 24.
