Watch: Hardik Pandya pushes away Lasith Malinga as Sri Lanka legend tries to hug Mumbai skipper

Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya has been garnering attention for all the wrong reasons ever since the ongoing season of the IPL started. He has been targeted by the fans since replacing Rohit Sharma as the MI captain and things have not changed much in IPL 2024 as well.

He received a hostile reception from the Gujarat Titans fans last week as they booed him throughout the game. Things were not very different when he led MI against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad on Wednesday (March 27). The Hyderabad crowd targeted him with ‘Rohit, Rohit’ chants during the match and also booed him.

He has been targeted on social media as well and the India star could face more criticism due to a recent video that has gone viral. The video shows an incident after the game between SRH and MI. Hardik Pandya could be seen pushing away MI bowling coach Lasith Malinga while the latter tried to hug him during the customary post-match handshake. The 30-year-old did not even look at Malinga and just pushed him away.

Watch:

WTF is wrong with Hardik Pandya ? The way he pushed away Malinga is so disrespectful. People need to see this.

HARDIK KA BAAP DUBEpic.twitter.com/ZTiurvtCaD

— 𝐇𝐲𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝕏 (@ImHydro45) March 28, 2024

Meanwhile, Pandya has made a tough start to life as MI captain. MI have lost their first two games in IPL 2024. After losing their first game by six runs against Gujarat Titans, MI suffered a 31-run defeat against SRH. They conceded a record total of 277 for 3 before scoring 246/5.

Hardik Pandya upbeat:

Despite the two losses, Hardik Pandya is confident as he said it was just a matter of time before his team turned things around. Speaking after the loss against SRH, the MI skipper also defended the bowlers after the poor outing and insisted that the young bowlers will learn from the game.

“They (the bowlers) were good, it was tough out there, almost 500 runs were scored and the wicket was helping the batters, we could have done a few things here and there, but having said that, we have a young bowling attack and we will learn,” said Hardik Pandya.

“If the ball goes this many times into the crowd, you will need time to get the overs done. Everyone (the batters) looked good and it is just a matter of time before we put things right. He (Kwena Maphaka) was fantastic, coming into his first game and getting overwhelmed, he was alright and backed his skillset, just needs some game time,” he added.

With two losses in a row, MI will be eyeing their first win of the season when they take on Rajasthan Royals next on Monday. It will be their first home game and they will be looking to make the most of it.