Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, director of cricket at Delhi Capitals, has defended Hardik Pandya amidst all the booing that the new Mumbai Indians skipper has been receiving lately.

Pandya’s trade from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians ahead of the IPL 2024 auction made waves, especially  after he was named captain of MI, replacing five-time IPL winner Rohit Sharma at the helm.

The move was not met with warmth from the fans of both teams. Gujarat fans were aggrieved that Pandya chose to leave the franchise after two successful seasons with them, while MI and Rohit fans have been unhappy at the unceremonious manner in which the India captain has been replaced by Pandya, who was not even a part of the unit for the last two years.

This has led to Pandya being greeted with jeers and boos in each of the three games that MI have played so far in IPL 2024. Be it at the toss, on the field, or while he has walked out to bat, Pandya has had to bear the brunt of fans’ anger.

Several people have spoken out against the booing, including presenter Sanjay Manjrekar, who asked the crowd to “behave” during the toss at the Wankhede Stadium, as well as R Ashwin. Now, Ganguly has come to Pandya’s defence as well.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference today (April 6) ahead of their game against MI, Ganguly said that Pandya is not at fault for being named captain: “I don’t think they (fans) should boo Hardik Pandya. It’s not correct. The franchise has appointed him as captain. That’s what happens in sports.

“Whether you captain India or you captain a state, or whether you captain your franchise, you’re appointed as captain. It’s not Hardik’s fault that he’s been appointed as captain. So I think all of us need to understand that.”

Unfortunately for Pandya, he has not had a great start to his MI captaincy career on the field as well, with MI losing their first three games. Against DC, who they face at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday (April 7), they would desperately want to get their campaign back on track, or else it might be a long season for the team as well as for Pandya as far as dealing with disgruntled fans will be concerned.

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