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R Ashwin has came out in support of Hardik Pandya, who has been trolled relentlessly since taking over the captaincy of Mumbai Indians from Rohit Sharma.
The all-rounder has been venomously targeted by the fans in Mumbai Indians last two matches played at Ahmedabad against former team Gujarat Titans and then in Hyderabad against Sunrisers.
Ashwin on his YouTube channel had defended Pandya after a user asked “whether it is time for Mumbai Indians to issue a statement, saying it was a poor transfer?”
Ashwin replied: “Neither has any role to play. Neither the franchise not the player has a role to play in this at all. I think the responsibility and the onus lies on the fans.”
Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya and Gujarat Titans’ captain Shubman Gill during the toss for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 T20 cricket match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans, at Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad. (PTI)
Hardik Pandya, following his switch from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians, got hysterically booed all through his team’s first outing in Ahmedabad. The anger was apparently because of Gujarat’s sense of betrayal. In the very next game, in Hyderabad this time, the screeching jeers from the stands didn’t stop. This Monday he plays his first game at home, and it remains to be seen if he gets booed at Wankhede like he was in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
“Have you seen this happen in any other country? Have you seen Joe Root and Zak Crawley fans fight? Or have you seen Joe Root and Jos Buttler fans fight? It’s crazy. Have you seen Steve Smith and Pat Cummins fans fight in Australia?” laments Ashwin.
“I’ve said this many times. This is cricket. This is a cinema culture. I know there are things like marketing, positioning and branding. I don’t deny it. I don’t believe in all this on my side but it’s not wrong to indulge either,” he said.
“Fan wars should never go in this ugly a route. One should remember which country these players represent- our country. So then what warrants a cricketer getting booed? “I don’t understand. If you don’t like a player and boo a player, why should a team come out to issue a clarification? We act like this has not happened before,” he added.
Citing the previous examples of how Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid all played under each other’s captaincy and later played under MS Dhoni.
“Sourav Ganguly played under Sachin Tendulkar and vice versa. These two have both played under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy. These three have played under Anil Kumble and all of them have played under Dhoni. When they were under Dhoni, these players were cricket jambhavans (giants). Dhoni too played under Virat,” he said.
“We need to get our act together. You know what the problem is? We are all happy to sit in our houses, look outside and someone else to pick up the trash. We don’t want to bother doing it ourselves. We should correct ourselves first.
“This is real time sports. Real times sports have real time emotions. How we go beyond that, counter it and find balance to play cricket is what this is all about. A real sport can never be compared to cinema. Heroes and hero worships are great.
“I am all for it. Enjoy what you like about your favourites but not at the cost of putting another player down. This is one thing I’d love to see disappear from the face of the earth in our country,” he said.
Mumbai Indians will play their first home match at Wankhede on Monday against Rajasthan Royals.
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