IPL 2024: Former Pakistan great slams fans for trolling Hardik Pandya

Mumbai Indians (MI) replaced veteran batsman Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as the captain of the team ahead of the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the star all-rounder is under tremendous pressure as MI is not performing well during the ongoing edition of the mega event. Moreover, Hardik’s leadership skill is under scanner.

Pandya is facing huge mocking and trolling on the ground during MI’s matches.

Apart from many former Indian cricketers and experts, even former Pakistan cricket team star pacer Wasim Akram is concerned about how things have developed for Pandya.

“This is the problem in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. We never forget. We tell our kids that when Pandya’s kid is born, you have to remind him why he became captain 20 years ago. We don’t move on,” said Akram during a recent interaction.

“I think fans need to be a little calm. At the end of the day, he is your player. He plays for Mumbai Indians, and he is the one who can make you win. They still can qualify for the IPL 2024 playoffs. There is no point booing your own player. You can criticize a little bit, but move on,” he added.

Earlier, former India star Robin Uthappa had said that Pandya may be battling mental health due to the recent circumstances.
 
“The mocking, trolling, the memes about his fitness. You don’t think it hurts him? It hurts him. It hurts any human being. How many people actually know the reality of it? Hardik is dealing with mental health issues, for sure. We, as people, I understand, as Indians, we are emotional. But it is not right to impose this kind of treatment on any human being. It is unbecoming as a society for us to do that to someone and be okay with it. We should not be laughing along with it. We should not be forwarding these memes,” said Uthappa.