MI vs RR IPL 2024: Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya has had a dismal run to say the least so far in this season of the Indian Premier League. On Monday, things hit a head. MI supporters booed him for the team's first home game at Wankhede Stadium when broadcaster and former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar gave him a traditional welcome.
"Two captains with me- Hardik Pandya, captain of the Mumbai Indians, a big round of applause, ladies and gentlemen," the broadcaster said before the toss. The booing of Pandya prompted broadcaster Sanjay Manjrekar to warn the crowd. "Behave," Manjrekar roared on-air.
After Manjrekar's support, Pandya smiled and said that his team was planning to bowl first. He added no changes have been made to the Mumbai Indians team whatsoever.
"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," the Rohit Sharma successor said.
Pandya's remarks came after his RR counterpart Sanju Samson won the toss and opted to bowl first. Mumbai Indians fans, however, did not stop at that. Loud cheers of 'Rohit, Rohit' engulfed the match venue while MI's losing game against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) was on.
Netizens poke fun at Sanjay Manjrekar, Hardik Pandya
Pandya's booing at Mumbai Indians' first match in its home ground did not only provoke a thunderous reaction from Sanjay Manjrekar on field but also made ripples on X (formerly Twitter). X users were quick to poke fun at the entire situation as they shared some hilarious memes.
While some users shared memes, others empathised with the angst of fans over the Mumbai Indians (MI) captain drama.
"Imagine the anger for Pandya and love for captain Rohit Sharma that Sanjay Manjrekar had to ask crowd to 'behave'. Rohit Sharma is bigger than the game," a user said.
"Booing of Hardik Pandya makes no sense. Everyone has a right to be ambitious. But Sanjay Manjrekar's 'behave' was downright condescending and crass," a user noted.
"The MI home crowd at Wankhede is in no mood for 'Captain' Hardik Pandya. Sanjay Manjrekar had to tell them to behave with all the booing and jeering at toss. Wait for the cheers when Rohit walks out in a few moments to bat first," another user said.
"The Mumbai crowd at Wankhede Stadium booed Hardik Pandya ignoring Sanjay Manjrekar’s patronizing comment telling them to ‘behave’.. just saw the toss visuals, and it seemed like the broadcasters had turned the crowd noise down so that the boos couldn’t be heard. #MIvRR #IPL2024," a user mentioned.
Mumbai Indians loses third match
Mumbai Indians lost the third match in a row on Monday. In their first home game, the IPL team, which won five titles under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, was hammered by Rajasthan Royals into total submission.
RR clinched the match against MI at the Wankhede Stadium by 6 wickets. With this win, Rajasthan Royals cruised to the top of the points table whereas Mumbai Indians is on the tenth spot.
IPL 2024 points table
| POSITION | FRANCHISE | MATCHES PLAYED | MATCHES WON | MATCHES LOST |
| 1. | RAJASTHAN ROYALS | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2. | KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 3. | CHENNAI SUPER KINGS | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 4. | GUJARAT TITANS | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 5. | SUNRISERS HYDERABAD | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 6. | LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 7. | DELHI CAPITALS | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 8. | PUNJAB KINGS | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 9. | ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 10. | MUMBAI INDIANS | 3 | 0 | 3 |
MI vs RR squads
Mumbai Indians (MI) full squad: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, N TIlak Varma, Tim David, Vishnu Vinod, Arjun Tendulkar, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff, Romario Shepherd, Gerald Coetzee, Dilshan Madushanka, Shreyas Gopal, Nuwan Thushara, Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Mohammad Nabi, Shivalik Sharma
Rajasthan Royals (RR) full squad: Sanju Samson (Captain), Shimron Hetmyer, Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Avesh Khan, Rovman Powell, Shubham Dubey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Abid Mushtaq, Nandre Burger