Hardik, who replaced five-time IPL-winning captain Rohit Sharma as skipper this season, had a dismal start to his captaincy tenure as MI suffered back-to-back defeats.
Hardik Pandya
Australian star batter Steve Smith has advised Hardik Pandya to simply “block out” the constant jeers and boos the new Mumbai Indians skipper is receiving from spectators so far, as they are “all irrelevant”. Hardik, who replaced five-time IPL-winning captain Rohit Sharma as skipper this season, had a dismal start to his captaincy tenure as MI suffered back-to-back defeats.
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On top of the two losses, the former Gujarat Titans skipper was booed by fans at Ahmedabad and Hyderabad—the venue of MI’s first two matches—as they were clearly not happy with the way Rohit was removed from captaincy. “I’d try and just say, to block it out, it’s all irrelevant,” Smith, who has faced abuse from fans across the world for his role in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town, told ESPNCricinfo. “No one outside knows what you are going through. No one [from outside] is in that change room.”
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Steve Smith
Smith, who was called “cheat” by fans during the 2019 ODI World Cup in England, feels all these abuse will come as a big surprise for Hardik as he is getting it from his Indian fans at home. “Personally, for me, it doesn’t bother me. I don’t care. I don’t pay any attention,” said Smith, who had to resign as Rajasthan Royals captain in 2018 after the ball-tampering scandal.
MI will face Rajasthan Royals on April 1 next at home and Smith is waiting to find out how Hardik is received by the local fans at the Wankhade Stadium. “So he’s under a little bit of pressure at the moment and it’ll be interesting to see what the reception’s like in their first home game in a couple of days’ time. “We know how big a star Rohit is and how much he is loved inside that [Wankhede] stadium.”
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