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West Indies cricket legend Brian Lara came up with a cheeky response when asked how Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya can win back fans who booed him at his home ground at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Lara wittily suggested that the all-rounder must 'play for India' the next Team India feature in a game at the venue.
Pandya had a tough first day in office as Mumbai Indians captain on Sunday, March 24, taking over from Rohit Sharma. First, he was booed at the toss on his home ground in Ahmedabad.
The jeers continued even after the game started. MI went on to lose by six runs, falling short in a chase of 169 against Pandya's former IPL franchise Gujarat Titans.
The new Mumbai Indians captain's woes became a subject of discussion in the commentary box as well. While sharing his thoughts on Pandya being booed by the Ahmedabad crowd, Kevin Pietersen opined
"He's the skipper. He's diving around and every time he goes anywhere near the ball, the boos ring out. I don't hear that too often in India."
Ian Bishop joined in the conversation and wondered:
"Can he win them over? What can he do to win them over or win them back?"
To that, former West Indies captain Lara chipped in and replied:
"Play for India ... next time they are playing here."
The Windies great's tongue-in-cheek remark left the commentary box in splits.
Pandya won the toss and elected to field first in the IPL 2024 game against Gujarat Titans. GT put up 168-6, with Sai Sudharsan top-scoring with 45 off 39, while captain Shubman Gill contributed 31 off 22.
In their chase, Mumbai Indians were held to 162-9 despite Rohit Sharma's 43 off 29 and Dewald Brevis' 46 off 38. New MI captaain Pandya had a poor game with both bat and ball. He registered figures of 0-30 from three overs and was out for 11 off 4 in the chase.
MI captain Pandya reflects on close defeat to GT
At the post-match presentation, Mumbai Indians captain Pandya asserted that the team backed itself to chase down the target but lamented that they lost momentum in the last five overs.
"Obviously, we back ourselves to chase those 42 runs (in the last five overs). But, it was one of those days when we see the score quite less in those last five overs. [sic]. We lost a bit of momentum there."
Mumbai Indians' next IPL 2024 game is against SunRisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad on March 27.
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