After criticising the Wankhede crowd for jeering Hardik Pandya, Michael Vaughan unleashed a vicious tirade on the MI captain during the T20 World Cup.
Hardik Pandya’s Varied Reception: From NGOs to IPL Crowd
The Mumbai Indians’ third straight home IPL 2024 game will once again draw attention from the crowd at the Wankhede. At one of the earlier games, against the Delhi Capitals, captain Hardik Pandya had a brief moment of reprieve as the audience, which was mostly made up of kids from different NGOs, didn’t jeer him at all. On Sunday, Mumbai will play the reigning champion Chennai Super Kings. But before the highly anticipated game, known as “El Clasico,” former England captain Michael Vaughan angrily attacked the Wankhede audience and then made a harsh “T20 World Cup” comment about Hardik.
Speaking on YouTube’s The Ranveer Show, Vaughan said he was confused by the way the Indian audience treated Hardik. The MI captain endured taunts, jeers, and boos throughout the first four IPL 2024 matches as supporters expressed their disapproval of the team for unexpectedly benching Rohit as captain in December.
Given that Hardik spent two seasons with the Gujarat Titans, Vaughan said that he could understand the animosity shown by the Ahmedabad fans during MI’s first game of the season. However, he also expressed dismay at the abuse the all-round player faced in Hyderabad and at the Wankhede.
“I don’t know why people boo. He played for them for two years and was not a great captain, so I can sort of understand it in the first game in Gujarat. But I was thinking, ‘What’s going on?’ when he traveled to Hyderabad. Upon his return to Wankhede, he was met with jeers by his own home crowd. “I didn’t comprehend that,” he said.
Vaughan Urges Indian Cricket Fans to Rally Behind Hardik Pandya for T20 World Cup Success
Then, Vaughan gave the supporters a harsh wake-up call, stating that Hardik’s success in the T20 World Cup, which starts in June, depends on him, and he begs them to boost his confidence and enthusiasm in the remaining weeks of the tournament. The statement further said that Vaughan supported the MI captain, Shivam Dube, even though other seasoned cricketers expressed worry about Hardik’s performance and supported Shivam Dube for a World Cup place.
“Indian cricket fans must realize that Hardik Pandya is essential to India’s success in the T20 World Cup and that the Mumbai Indians are also Indian supporters. He has to perform well for them. Because India has a fantastic chance of winning the trophy with Hardik soaring, they need him to somehow raise his confidence level to the highest degree over the next two weeks, he added.