The drama unfolded during the toss for the 14th match of IPL 2024 between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
The drama unfolded during the toss for the 14th match of IPL 2024 between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. When the newly-appointed captain of Mumbai Indians, Hardik Pandya, arrived for the coin ceremony in MI’s first home game of the season, the crowd didn’t welcome him cheerfully and rather booed him loudly.
Sanjay Manjrekar, who came to do the formalities with two captains, spoke Hardik’s name and asked the packed Wankhede crowd to give their captain a loud round of applause. However, the spectators did the opposite and booed Hardik so harshly that Manjrekar had to ask the fans to behave.
🚨 Toss 🚨@rajasthanroyals win the toss and elect to bowl against @mipaltan #TATAIPL | #MIvRR pic.twitter.com/pziDfHNIci
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 1, 2024
Hardik stood there with a wry smile on his face, pretending to be unaffected by the uncharacteristic behaviour of the fans. He has been subjected to vociferation at every venue he has been in IPL 2024, with MI fans showing their displeasure with Hardik.
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When Hardik went to his home ground in Ahmedabad, Gujarat Titans’ supporters booed him harshly before the Hyderabad crowd continued the trend in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s home game. That Mumbai Indians haven’t won any game so far has made life arduous for Hardik this season.
After seeing the tyrannical comments targeted at Hardik Pandya, Sanjay Manjrekar had to intervene and ask the Mumbai crowd to behave. Sanjay’s request was ignored by the spectators in Wankhede Stadium, and they continued to boo Hardik.
Hardik Pandya also lost the toss to exacerbate his case, and Rajasthan Royals’ skipper Sanju Samson elected to field first. He invited Mumbai batters to face two world-class new bowlers of RR.
However, Sanjay’s request asking the Mumbai crowd to show some respect to Hardik received mixed reactions from netizens. The social media gave different opinions on Sanjay’s gesture.
While one section of the social media applauded Sanjay’s gesture, the other section felt the veteran commentator could have avoided it. We have curated a few reactions from X (formerly Twitter) on Manjrekar’s gesture.
Here are some reactions:
A cricketer who was sent off the field by the umpire in a Ranji trophy match in the early 80s for misbehavior is asking paid spectators to behave. What an irony !
— Makarand Waingankar (@wmakarand) April 1, 2024
Sanjay Manjrekar introduced Hardik Pandya at the toss time at Wankhade and he said:
– “Big round of applause to Mumbai Indians Captain Hardik Pandya & Behave”.
– Massive respect for Sanjay Manjrekar. pic.twitter.com/5UpmaHKPG5
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) April 1, 2024
Sanjay Manjrekar asking crowd not to boo Hardik Pandya pic.twitter.com/lfb5eniqDO
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) April 1, 2024
Sanjay Manjrekar be like pic.twitter.com/l0Dm7O3inS
— Abhishek (@be_mewadi) April 1, 2024
What? Sanjay Manjrekar really asked the crowd to “Behave”?
Fans have every right to express their emotions until it is done in a respectable way without being abusive. You can still request the crowd, but NOBODY has any right to tell what the fans are supposed to do. #MIvsRR
— Peeyush Sharma (@peeyushsharmaa) April 1, 2024
Mumbai crowd at the Wankhede should come up with a chant telling Sanjay Manjrekar that, “We will learn to behave, the day you learn to commentate.”
Not a fan of booing your own players, but a commentator issuing sermons to the crowd during a live telecast is a lot worse.
— Zucker Doctor (@DoctorLFC) April 1, 2024
Sanjay Manjrekar asking fans to ‘behave’.
Next time fans should ask his permission to cheer for a particular player or team, or even go to the washroom.
— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) April 1, 2024
I like you Manjrekar sahab but you can’t ask crowd to not boo a player. It happens across sports and all over the world. Booing and criticizing is all good until it is not racist/casteist/religious. https://t.co/TtnJqJ6u20
— Mayank (@ImMayankB) April 1, 2024
Sanjay Manjrekar asked Wankhede crowd not to boo Hardik Pandya
Crowd to Manjrekar: pic.twitter.com/hy6DK4SH6z
— chacha monk (@oldschoolmonk) April 1, 2024
Sanjay Manjrekar tried his best to save Pandya from crowd but didn’t matter.
— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) April 1, 2024
Mumbai Indians didn’t get a great start and lost plenty of wickets early on. Hardik Pandya batted well but couldn’t take his team to a reasonable total.
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