Hardik Pandya was constantly booed at in the Narendra Modi stadium

Nobody expected that captaincy would be given to Hardik: Manoj

He has to perform well to get into the Indian team to play the World Cup; Manoj

In the match between Gujarat Titans (GT) and Mumbai Indians (MI), the captain of MI Hardik Pandya was constantly booed at in the stadium. It was however unclear whether it was the GT fans who booed at him for deserting the team or MI fans for having taken over captaincy from Rohit Sharma. Former Indian batsman Manoj Tiwary felt that this booing would only be intensified during MI’s home fixtures. “I think he is going to get booed a bit louder in Mumbai…Because as a fan, Mumbai fan or a Rohit Sharma fan, nobody expected that captaincy would be given to Hardik. Despite Rohit giving five trophies to Mumbai Indians, he has to lose the captaincy. I don’t know what the reasons are but I think it has not gone down well with the fans. And that is the reaction which you see on the field,” Tiwary said in an interaction with PTI. 

Manoj Tiwary was however confident that Hardik Pandya would rise above the hate directed at him. “Knowing him, whatever I have been observing of late through television, that despite getting booed, he kept his calm, he kept his nerve, which is the sign of a good temperament. I believe even if he was not booed, he has to perform well to get into the Indian team to play the World Cup. Because it is important for all the players to perform well and be fit as well to be available for selection. And him being the number one all-rounder…obviously he has to be in form and to be in form he has to perform,” Tiwary added.