Watch: Rohit Sharma requests fans to stop booing Hardik Pandya during MI vs RR match in Mumbai

In a video that has now gone viral on social media, former Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma could be seen gesturing towards  the crowd at the Wankhede Stadium to stop booing their current skipper Hardik Pandya. Hardik Pandya has received criticism from fands ever since he took over as MI skipper since returning to the franchise from Gujarat Titans (GT), and the all-rounder was once again booed by the crowd at Wankhede during the toss ahead of their IPL 2024 game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Monday.

That was not the only time when Hardik was booed on Monday. Hardik was booed during RR’s run chase, and this time when the crowd became hostile again, Rohit, fielder near the boundary rope, signalled towards the spectators to calm down.

Mumbai Indians, the five-time champions, have endured a winless start to IPL 2024. They began with a six-run defeat to Gujarat Titans, and that was followed by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) thumping them by 31 runs in Uppal on a night where several records were broken.

And on Monday, MI, who were put into bat by RR, were restricted to 125/9 after Trent Boult and Yavendra Chahal picked three wickets each. Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir and Dewald Brevis were dismissed for first ball ducks and the only two batters who put up some resistance of sorts were Hardik Pandya (34) and Tilak Varma (32).

RR were once in a spot of bother at 88/4 in their run chase but an in-form Riyan Parag (54*) helped the inaugural champions register a six-wicket win with 27 balls to spare.

MI are reeling in tenth place with no points in three games whereas RR jumped to the top of the points table with six points.