‘You have to take it on your chin’ - Jasprit Bumrah breaks silence on Hardik Pandya getting booed during IPL 2024

After spending two years at Gujarat Titans, star all-rounder Hardik Pandya stunned the fans with a move to Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2024. He received a warm welcome from the fans on social media but things changed drastically when he replaced Rohit Sharma as captain. The same fans turned against him and it was reflected during matchdays as Hardik was welcomed with boos, abusive words and even racial slurs.

The 30-year-old didn’t react to any of those but later revealed that it did affect him at one stage. Mumbai’s performance on the field wasn’t any good either, putting more pressure on the captain. Things however changed in the T20 World Cup, when Hardik played a crucial role in the India set-up as the Men in Blue went on to win the coveted trophy beating South Africa in the final.

Meanwhile, Hardik’s teammate Jasprit Bumrah recently opened up on Hardik being booed during the IPL and revealed that all the players were available to support him and talk to him. He added that certain things are beyond control as fans in the country are driven by emotion and stated that it was important to take it on the chin.

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“You have to take it on your chin. That's where the inner circle comes in. We, as a team, don't encourage that, we don't promote that. We don't think that's warranted. We were with him (Hardik), talking to him, if he needed support. Certain things are beyond your control. If it happened, it happened. The narrative just changed, when we won the World Cup. This is part of the journey. It's us against the world. We will try to give as much support as we can," Jasprit Bumrah told The Indian Express.

“We live in a country that's driven by emotion. Fans get emotional and players are also emotional. It does affect that you're an India player and sometimes your own fans are not speaking well of you. But it is the way it is. You've got to take it on your chin because how can you go out there and stop people?” he added.