[Watch] Ambati Rayudu has a friendly interaction with under-fire MI captain Hardik Pandya after a tough loss vs RR in IPL 2024

Former Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu was seen cheering up underfire Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya after a thumping loss to Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Monday in IPL 2024. MI slumped to their third successive defeat as RR beat them comfortably by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium.

It has been a turbulent journey for Hardik ever since he replaced Rohit Sharma as MI captain last December. The decision didn't sit well with many Mumbai Indians and Rohit fans, who have expressed their displeasure by hurling boos at Hardik in all three games of IPL 2024 so far. To compound Pandya's issues, MI have failed to perform in those three games and are the only team that are yet to register a win in IPL 2024.

The Mumbai franchise shared a video on their official Instagram handle to give a glimpse of Ambati Rayudu's interaction with Hardik Pandya after the match against Rajasthan Royals on Monday. The former MI player could be seen having a friendly conversation with Hardik in the dug out. The post was captioned:

"𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥? 𝐒𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩. 💙#MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians

You can watch the video below:

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"You can call it an error of judgment because that shot was not on" - Aakash Chopra on Hardik Pandya's dismissal in MI vs RR IPL 2024 clash

Former Indian batter Aakash Chopra recently analyzed MI captain Hardik Pandya's knock against RR and opined that he played a bad shot after getting set at the crease. Chopra also stated that Hardik had a good opportunity to earn support from the home crowd by pulling his team out of a troubling situation, which he squandered.

In a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra gave his opinion on the matter, saying:

"Hardik was batting well and counterattacked a little. The only way to win the public's love is by scoring runs, taking wickets, and making the team win. If he does that job, nothing succeeds like success, and the platform was absolutely set for that Four players had gotten out for 20 and you were batting very well. He played a bad shot. You can call it an error of judgment because that shot was not on."

Chopra continued:

"It was just the third ball of the 10th over and even if he had hit Yuzi Chahal for a six, things wouldn't have changed. Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya stitched together a good partnership. If they had played a little while longer, a lot of life would have been left in this match. Although it wasn't a 210-run pitch, it was a 160 to 170-run one. There would have been a fight at that score and you could have even won the match."

Do you agree with Aakash Chopra's views above? Let us know in the comments section below.