Veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin lashed out at Rohit Sharma and Mumbai Indians fans for booing Hardik Pandya in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He said that fans should not go on this route and it is the one thing he wants to make disappear. 

Ever since Hardik Pandya has taken over the captaincy of Mumbai Indians in the IPL, things haven’t been great for him. The all-rounder hasn’t been welcomed by the fans well and all he has received is boos and chants of Rohit Rohit. 

This is because Mumbai Indians removing Rohit Sharma from the leadership didn’t well with many. The senior India opener captained the team to the five IPL titles and even after that he was removed from the leadership, which triggered many Rohit and MI fans. 

In the two IPL 2024 games so far, Hardik Pandya has received a lot of boos from fans when he came for the toss. Apart from this when he fielded near the boundary ropes, he was greeted with “Rohit Rohit” chants apart from facing a lot of criticism from the fans and experts as well for treating Rohit Sharma badly.

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There even have been reports that suggested that there are two sides to the Mumbai Indians team. Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Tilak Verma and others are on the one side whereas Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan and others are on the other. 

Amid all the criticism that Hardik Pandya is facing, R Ashwin came out in support of him. The off-spinner said that people are pretending like this has happened for the first time in history. He cited the example of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and others who played under MS Dhoni. Speaking in a video posted on his YouTube channel, he stated: 

“If you don’t like a player and boo a player, don’t why should a team come out to issue a clarification? We act like this has not happened before. Sachin played under Ganguly’s captaincy, these two have both played under Rahul Dravid. 

“These three have played under Kumble and all of them have played under Dhoni. When they were under MS, these players were cricket giants”.

Enjoy what you like about your favourite but not by putting others down – R Ashwin lashes out at Rohit Sharma fans

Ashwin further lashed out at the MI and Rohit Sharma fans, saying that people should remember that Hardik Pandya plays for India. He further stated that fans should celebrate their fans without degrading others. He added: 

“Fan wars should never go in this ugly route – one should remember which country these players represent – our country. So then what warrants a cricketer getting booed? – Enjoy what you like about your favourite but not by putting others down – that is one thing I like to disappear from our country.”

Mumbai Indians will next take on Rajasthan Royals on 1st April. 

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