[Watch] Virat Kohli urges Wankhede crowd not to boo Hardik Pandya, reminds them that MI skipper plays for India 

In a heartwarming gesture, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Virat Kohli urged the crowd at the Wankhede in Mumbai not to boo Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya. Reminding the crowd that the all-rounder represents India in international cricket, Kohli urged fans to cheer for him.

Pandya has been booed vociferously by fans at various stadiums during the ongoing IPL 2024. The poor behavior from the crowd continued during the MI vs RCB clash at the Wankhede in Mumbai too on Thursday, April 11. However, in a pleasant change, a section of the crowd was seen chanting his name in support as well.

Speaking of the video that's going viral on social media, Kohli is seen pointing his hand towards Pandya and telling the crowd that he's an Indian player. As he walks back to his fielding position, the RCB star is seen urging the crowd to cheer for the MI skipper.

Speaking of the match itself, Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by seven wickets, registering their second consecutive win in IPL 2024.

Sent in to bat by MI, RCB put up 196-8, with Faf du Plessis, Rajat Patidar and Dinesh Karthik striking half-centuries, while for MI, Jasprit Bumrah claimed five wickets.

Mumbai Indians, though, cruised home in 15.3 overs. Opener Ishan Kishan hammered 69 off 34, while Suryakumar Yadav slammed 52 off 19. Skipper Pandya chipped in with 21* off six, smashing three sixes.

---

Kohli's gesture for Pandya similar to the one he made for Smith in 2019

This is not the first time Kohli has urged the crowd to cheer an opposition player. During the 2019 World Cup match between India and Australia at The Oval in London, a section of the crowd was booing Steve Smith. The Aussie batter was making a comeback to international cricket after serving a ban for his role in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.

Kohli was batting when he noticed the crowd's unruly behavior towards the star Australian cricketer. Turning towards the fans, he urged them to stop booing Smith and instead cheer for him.

At the end of the over in which the incident took place, Smith and the Indian batter were seen exchanging a warm handshake. Smith even gave the Indian cricketer a friendly pat on the back.

Speaking of the match, both Kohli and Smith scored half-centuries, but the Men in Blue won the contest by 36 runs, thanks to Shikhar Dhawan's 117.