The relationship between Mumbai Indians teammates Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma seems to have soured a bit after the former replaced the latter as captain ahead of IPL 2024.
MI and Indian cricket fans were already not happy with Rohit being removed from the top job and videos of their first match together against Gujarat Titans on Sunday have made matters worse for the all-rounder.
Fans fumed as a clip of Pandya telling Rohit to change his fielding position went viral on social media after MI's 6-run defeat against GT.
Pandya was also booed every time the ball went towards him or whenever he came on the big screen at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. GT was after all, the franchise which Pandya left after captaining for two seasons.
Another clip has surfaced online which shows Rohit getting irritated with Pandya, who hugged his former captain from behind after the match.
The 36-year-old was seen having an animated chat with Pandya during the post-match presentation ceremony. All this happened in front of MI team owner Akash Ambani and GT spinner Rashid Khan, who were having a chat closeby.
GT outclass MI to delight home fans
Meanwhile, GT captain Shubman Gill started his new role on a high as his team defeated Pandya's MI comfortably in front of their home crowd.
Sai Sudharsan (45) and Gill (31) helped GT post 168 for 6 on the board which they successfully defended despite valiant knocks from Rohit (43) and Dewald Brevis (46) as MI ended up with 162 for 9 in 20 overs.
Azmatullah Omarzai, Umesh Yadav, Spencer Johnson and Mohit Sharma bagged a couple of wickets each for the home team while Sai Kishore got one.
