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Legendary Australian wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist said that the treatment of Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya by fans following his return to the Blue and Gold franchise from the Gujarat Titans (GT) highlights the tribalism and intensity within the fan- base in the tournament, which is hard to replicate.
Ever since his controversial move to MI as a captain from GT, replacing the five-time IPL winner Rohit Sharma, there has been a massive online fan war going on between fans of both star players. Rohit fans accuse the franchise and Hardik of betraying and mistreating the skipper, who clinched the side five IPL titles and shaped the careers of many stars, including the all-rounder, in his stint as a captain of the Blue and Gold franchise. Hardik has been subjected to not only plenty of online trolling and abuse, but also faced booing at stadiums during matches, including at the team's home arena of Wankhede Stadium. The matters escalated to such an extent that former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, part of the broadcasting team, asked the crowd to "behave" during the match against Rajasthan Royals at Wankhede. Speaking on the Club Prairie Fire podcast along with his co-host and former England skipper Michael Vaughan, Gilchrist said, "It shows you the status that Rohit Sharma has in the game there. The mysterious manner with which it all played out initially, the pace with which it happened, everyone was stunned with Mumbai getting Hardik Pandya away from Gujarat and then Rohit relinquishing captaincy. It is an odd one. But this is the nature of the beast in the IPL. The tribalism and intensity within fan bases. It's hard to replicate anywhere else with that level of intensity." Vaughan also said that he has not seen any Indian being booed like that at his own home. He also wondered if Rohit would be back as MI captain after all this drama. "I have never seen the Indian crowd boo one of their own. It's remarkable. The booing... I have to say, the Indian crowd just loves cricket. I have never heard them boo. I've certainly never heard them boo one of their own. I get the booing when he played at (Ahmedabad) against the Gujarat Titans. He has left them and joined Mumbai. He took them to a title. So I get that in a pantomime kind of way," said Vaughan. "But for him to go to Hyderabad and get booed and then come to Wankhede and get booed by the Mumbai Indians fans while he is playing for them, I'm staggered by it. The big debate is whether Rohit Sharma will end up back as captain. That has caused a lot of drama here in India," he added. Mumbai Indians is at the bottom place, having lost all their matches. Their next match is against Delhi Capitals at Wankhede on April 7. (ANI)
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