“Acquiesce,” Sanjay Manjrekar, as the Wankhede assembly boos MI captain Hardik Pandya
Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar, a former cricket player for India who is now a broadcaster, ordered the Wankhede crowd to “behave” on Monday during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season toss between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rajasthan Royals (RR).
The MI captain was met with unwelcome behavior at his home stadium, Wankhede Stadium, as supporters persisted in jeering the all-round player, following their jeering of him in Hyderabad.
During the toss, Manjrekar introduced the captains of both sides and urged the fans to “behave” as they jeered the newly chosen MI skipper for the third straight game.
“A hearty round of applause, ladies and gentlemen, for Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya and the two captains who are with me. Act appropriately!” Manjrekar stated in an IPL video that was uploaded on X.
After rejoining his original team after two seasons as the Gujarat Titans’ (GT) captain, Hardik took over as MI’s captain. Since then, he has been the target of criticism and jeers from some fans as well as criticism from former Indian players.
The five-time IPL champions’ disastrous start to the season—losing their lung-opener to GT and losing their second game against Sunrisers Hyderabad—only made his problems worse.
Sanjay Manjrekar: Questions about the shift in captaincy were raised even during the preseason press conference with head coach Mark Boucher and Hardik. Hardik’s failure to directly answer the questions in his responses caused a social media reaction.
Sanju Samson, the captain of the Rajasthan Royals (RR), won the toss and chose to field MI first.
Samson stated, “We want to bowl first,” after the ball was tossed. It’s the first game of the season (at Wankhede Stadium), and the fast bowlers will have assistance. The wicket appears fresh. We would prefer to carry on in the same manner. Sandeep is unfit and loses out. Burger enters.”
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Sanjay Manjrekar: Hardik Pandya, the captain of the Mumbai Indians, stated that his team wants to play cricket that is enjoyable to all.
“We were planning to bowl first. It’s quite exciting to be a part of this game. We always look forward to the future, need to follow the process. Looking forward to playing a brand of cricket everyone enjoys. Playing the same team,” he said.
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Nandre Burger, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, and Sanju Samson (w/c).
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Tim David, Gerald Coetzee, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jasprit Bumrah, Kwena Maphaka, Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, Tilak Varma, and Hardik Pandya (c).
Rajasthan Royals Subs: Rovman Powell, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Sen, Shubham Dubey and Abid Mushtaq.
Mumbai Indians Subs: Dewald Brevis, Nuwan Thushara, Romario Shepherd, Nehal Wadhera and Shams Mulani.
