Watch: Virat Kohli was spotted asking the Wankhede crowd to cheer for Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya during today’s IPL 2024 clash between RCB and MI.

Hardik Pandya has had a tough start to his MI captaincy career, having received boos almost every time he has stepped on the field. Mumbai and Rohit Sharma fans have been irked by the unceremonious takeover of MI captaincy by Pandya, and they have let their displeasure known.

Several cricketers and prominent voices in and around the game, including but not limited to R Ashwin and Sanjay Manjrekar, have called for crowds to be more respectful and not go after players like this, especially since they belong to the same country.

As Pandya came out to bat for MI against RCB, Kohli was captured asking the Wankhede crowd to cheer for him. This is not the first time Kohli has done something like this.

During the 2019 ODI World Cup, Kohli was seen walking over towards the boundary to ask a section of the crowd to clap for Steve Smith, who was returning from a ban for ball-tampering.

Today, Pandya came out to bat at No.4, with MI needing 58 from 8.4 overs. He hit three sixes in his six-ball knock of 21 and took his team home in a steep run-chase of 197. This was MI’s second victory on the bounce after having lost the first three games of the season. RCB, on the other hand, have now lost five out of their first six games.

Watch Kohli ask Wankhede crowd to cheer for Pandya:

Kohli not appreciating the booing of hardik by Wankhede crowd. Telling them to cheer and reminding them he's an India player #MIvsRCB 👌 pic.twitter.com/ok5SYa3AkA

— Vighnesh Rane (@Vighrane01) April 11, 2024

Kohli Ek Hi Dil Hai Kitni Baar Jitoge🥹#ViratKohli | #RCBvsMI | #HardikPandya pic.twitter.com/V8ELOUiXDS

— Am𝕏t🇵🇹 (@amxt90) April 11, 2024

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