Watch: Amid backlash from fans, Ambati Rayudu consoles 'shattered' Hardik Pandya in MI dugout

Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya is undergoing the toughest phase in his career. Taking over the leadership of the five-time champions in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, replacing Rohit Sharma, hasn’t brought good fortunes to him. 

Hardik Pandya has become the most hated cricketer in India within the span of the last few weeks. The fans in the stadiums haven’t welcomed him at all as a skipper of Mumbai Indians. The all-rounder isn’t getting support from the crowd and all that he gets is boos from the spectators whenever he comes on screen. 

This is because Hardik Pandya got traded from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians and the all-rounder had kept the condition of taking over the captaincy from Rohit Sharma as a part of trade. This hasn’t gone well with many fans and experts as he has been treated with “Rohit Rohit” chants during the games. 

Hardik Pandya received boos from  Ahmedabad and Hyderabad crowd and it got even more louder when Mumbai Indians played the game at Wankhede Stadium on Monday (1st April). The all-rounder wasn’t greeted well even by the home crowd. 

Apart from the treatment from fans, Hardik Pandya has failed to deliver as captain as well as the player for the Mumbai Indians. Under his leadership, the franchise has lost all three games that they have played so far. And also he has failed to deliver well with bat and ball in the ongoing IPL 2024. 

After Mumbai Indians lost the game against Rajasthan Royals by the margin of 6 wickets, former player of the franchise, Ambati Rayudu was seen consoling Hardik Pandya. The Cricketer-turned-commentator walked to the MI skipper and cheered up Pandya, who looked dejected. 

Ambati Rayudu shared a pep talk with Hardik Pandya for a few minutes. The video of that was posted by Mumbai Indians on their official Twitter account. Here’s the clip:

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥? 𝐒𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩. 💙#MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians | @hardikpandya7 pic.twitter.com/k3YSlofEdV

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 2, 2024

We need to be a bit more disciplined – Hardik Pandya after Mumbai’s loss to Rajasthan 

Mumbai Indians had a torrid outing in the game against Rajasthan Royals. Asked to bat, they were reeling at 20/4. A vital contribution from Hardik Pandya (34) and Tilak Varma (32) powered them to a total of 125 runs. With the ball, they took some early wickets but failed to defend as they didn’t have much in the bank. 

Hardik Pandya talked about the tough night his team had and stated that they as a group believe in themselves. He believes that the team needs to be more disciplined going ahead. He explained: 

“Yes, a tough night, we didn’t start the way we wanted to start. I wanted to counter, we were in a decent position to get us around 150-160, but my wicket allowed them to get back more into the game, I needed to do a lot more.” 

“It’s all about doing the right things, (correct) Results happen at times, at some other times it doesn’t. As a group, we believe we can do a lot better, but we need to be a bit more disciplined and show a lot more courage.” 

Mumbai Indians will be next seen in action when they will take on Delhi Capitals in their next game. The game between the two teams will take place on Sunday (7th April) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai