Virat Kohli appears to ask Wankhede Stadium to stop booing Hardik Pandya in MI vs RCB game. (Screengrabs/X)Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Virat Kohli appeared to ask Wankhede Stadium to stop booing Mumbai Indians Hardik Pandya during the Indian Premier League match between the two franchises.
In the second innings, Wankhede saw a mix of emotions as Pandya walked in to bat. First, as Rohit Sharma was getting off the pitch after being dismissed, you could hear a ring of boos that continued as Hardik took his guard.
Just when it looked like another round of booing is about to follow, the tone suddenly changed. The 33,000-crowd started chanting Hardik’s name. And soon enough, the MI captain welcomed the chants with a first-ball six over long on. From booing to cheering in the span of a few minutes.
Kohli not appreciating the booing of hardik by Wankhede crowd. Telling them to cheer and reminding them he's an India player #MIvsRCB 👌 pic.twitter.com/ok5SYa3AkA
— Vighnesh Rane (@Vighrane01) April 11, 2024
After the match, a few videos surfaced where Kohli was seen gesturing and mouthing something to the crowd with the Hindi broadcasters also pointing out the fact the Kohli had requested the crowd to support Pandya when the boos turned to cheers.
Only a heartless man can hate Virat Kohli pic.twitter.com/H09lRy4XIc
— ` (@chixxsays) April 11, 2024
It’s not the first time Kohli has made such a gesture, as he did so for Steve Smith as well during the 2019 World Cup at The Oval. “Just because there’s so many Indian fans here, I just didn’t want them to set a bad example, to be honest, because he didn’t do anything to be booed in my opinion,” Kohli had said back then.
In the match, Mumbai Indians defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru by seven wickets.
RCB managed to reach to 196 for 8 despite Jasprit Bumrah’s five-wicket haul. While Faf du Plessis made 61 off 40 balls, Rajat Patidar hit 50 off 26 balls.
Towards the end, Dinesh Karthik made a 23-ball unbeaten 53-run cameo to take RCB to a competitive total.
Chasing, Ishan Kishan blasted a 34-ball 69, while Suryakumar Yadav scored a 19-ball 52 as MI overwhelmed the target in 15.3 overs.
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