MI vs RR IPL 2024: Hardik Pandya wins Twitter after turning 'Boos' into 'Cheers' from Mumbai Indians Fans

Hardik Pandya has seen a radical change in reception towards him within a span of an hour at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday (April 1).

Mumbai Indians are playing Rajasthan Royals and the MI captain got a hostile reception at the start of the match.

During the Toss, Hardik was welcomed with Boos by the majority of the MI crowd, which even prompted Sanjay Manjrekar to tell them to 'Behave'.

But as the Mumbai batting started, things started to change for the MI skipper. The Paltans lost three wickets very early in the match. Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir and Dewald Brevis - all departed for first-ball ducks as Trent Boult created mayhem in the batting lineup.

Hardik came in at no. 6 when Mumbai were tottering at 20 for 4, and started to counterattack the Rajasthan bowling.

The MI skipper started hitting his shots and as the ball started to find the fence, the crowd slowly started to cheer. Pandya's aggressive approach created some momentum for Mumbai and Wankhede embraced Hardik with loud cheers.

The commentators hailed Pandya for his stellar batting and said the Mumbai captain won the hearts of the MI fans. Pandya scored 34 runs off 21 balls before getting hold out to the deep in the bowling of Yuzvendra Chahal.

"Thirty Five minutes ago during the Toss they were booing. But now they are cheering for Hardik Pandya. This is the way Mumbai Indians are going to play under captain Hardik Pandya," commentator Simon Doull said.

It has been a difficult past month or so for Hardik Pandya. Since his appointment as the MI captain replacing Rohit Sharma, the Indian all-rounder has been the subject of ridicule, abuse and hatred from fans across the country.

The illogical and baffling treatment even continued at the Wankhede, which was obviously a disheartening visual. But Pandya showcased his mettle and came out to rescue his team amid all the adversities, which garnered the respect of the Paltans.