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Eoin Morgan, the former England captain, was left astonished by the crowd at the Wankhede Stadium jeering the home captain of Mumbai Indians, Hardik Pandya, at toss time before their clash against Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2024. The 37-year-old, who was live on the JioCinema pre-show, said, “I’ve never seen a home captain booed like that.”
Notably, Hardik Pandya has been a subject of constant criticism ever since Mumbai Indians team management appointed him the new captain of the franchise, replacing the five-time IPL-winning leader Rohit Sharma. The fans have shown their disapproval of the decision on social media, and since the beginning of the IPL 2024, Hardik Pandya has been constantly booed wherever he has played.
It was Sanju Samson, the captain of Rajasthan Royals, who won the toss in the 14th match of the IPL 2024, deciding to bowl first on a fresh pitch at the Wankhede Stadium. His decision proved to be correct when Trent Boult dismissed Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, and Dewald Brevis for golden ducks in his first spell inside the powerplay.
Nandre Burger picked up the key wicket of Ishan Kishan, nicking him off through to Sanju Samson for 16 off 14, to reduce Mumbai Indians to 20/4 in the fourth over. The captain Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma stitched together a vital partnership of 56 runs for the fifth wicket to keep themselves in the contest.
Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed the MI captain Hardik Pandya for 34 off 21, an innings which included six fours, to put them firmly on the backfoot. As of this writing, the scorecard for Mumbai Indians read 77/5 after 10 overs, with Tilak Varma trying to steady the ship alongside Piyush Chawla.
