Watch: Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya engaged in animated chat after Mumbai Indians' loss vs Gujarat Titans

After the conclusion of the 5th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Gujarat Titans (GT), the MI stars Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma were seen having an animated chat at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday, March 24.

Hardik Pandya finally made his first appearance as the captain of the Mumbai Indians (MI) when he stepped on the field to face his former team Gujarat Titans (GT). Pandya enjoyed tremendous success with GT in his 2-year stint with the franchise as he guided them to the title victory in the first season before leading them to the final in the next season.

Things were going pretty smoothly for Hardik Pandya at the Gujarat Titans (GT) and many praised his partnership with the head coach Ashish Nehra.

However, the relationship between Hardik Pandya and GT didn’t last long as he requested his release from the team to rejoin Mumbai Indians (MI). GT accepted his request and traded him back to MI and he replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain of the franchise.

The decision made by Mumbai Indians received a lot of criticism and the fans also expressed their disappointment over seeing Hardik Pandya lead the franchise at the Narendra Modi Stadium against Gujarat Titans (GT).

Hardik Pandya was booed heavily by the spectators in Ahmedabad and they showcased their support for Rohit Sharma by chanting the latter’s name on a regular basis.

There were certain moments on the field that angered fans even more as Hardik Pandya ordered Rohit Sharma to field near the boundary ropes and not inside the circle, which he usually does. Also, Rohit Sharma clearly looked unhappy receiving orders from his successor.

Meanwhile, after Hardik Pandya faced a loss in his first outing as Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper, he was seen having a heated animated chat with Rohit Sharma and the clip of the incident went viral on social media.

Watch: Rohit Sharma, and Hardik Pandya engaged in an animated chat

pic.twitter.com/3QfvVooZlw

— Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (@Hanji_CricDekho) March 24, 2024

Chasing the target of 169 runs in the match, Mumbai Indians fell short and were restricted to 162/9 and the efforts of Rohit Sharma and Dewald Brevis went in vain.

Speaking after the 6-run loss, Hardik Pandya said that they backed themselves to complete the run-chase but were unfortunate to end on a losing side. He said:

“Obviously we backed ourselves to chase those 42 runs but it was one of those days when we see the score quite less compared to what it could have been in five overs, I think we lost little bit of momentum there.”

Hardik Pandya further expressed delight over his return to Narendra Modi Stadium, the home of his former team GT. He also spoke about youngster Tilak Varma’s decision not to take a single in one of the deliveries of Rashid Khan’s over. Hardik Pandya said:

“It feels good to be back because this is one stadium where you can enjoy and feel the atmosphere quite lively and obviously the crowd was full and they got a good game as well. (On Tilak not taking the single vs Rashid) I think Tilak felt that that was a better idea at that point of time, I completely back him, not an issue, 13 games to go.”