IPL 2024: Virat Kohli's gesture to stop booing Hardik Pandya at Wankhede wins hearts on internet

The IPL (Indian Premier League) 2024 has been a roller coaster ride for Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya. The star all-rounder was roped in by the five-time champions in an all-cash deal with Gujarat Titans and was instantly made captain of the side for the 17th edition of the tournament. 

However, Hardik replacing Rohit as MI skipper never sat well with the fans. This resulted in the crowd booing Pandya wherever the star all-rounder played. The same was the case in the 25th game of the tournament when Mumbai Indians took on Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday, April 11.

The Wankhede crowd booing Hardik Pandya did not sit well with ace RCB batter Virat Kohli. In a clip that has been going viral all over social media, Kohli was asking the Wankhede crowd to stop booing Hardik Pandya when he came out to bat in the second innings. 

Mumbai Indians register second win of the season

Speaking of the game, the clash between MI and RCB began with the visitors batting first. RCB got off to a subpar start as in-form Virat Kohli was sent packing for a score of three runs. However, Faf du Plessis scored 61 runs in 40 deliveries, with Rajat Patidar scoring 50 off 26. 

Furthermore, Dinesh Karthik played an unbeaten knock of 53 runs as RCB posted a total of 196 runs in the first innings. As for MI, Jasprit Bumrah was the highest wicket taker with five wickets to his name; Gerald Coetzee, Akash Madhwal, and Shreyas Gopal struck once as well. 

Aiming to chase the target, Mumbai got off to a brilliant start as openers Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma scored 68 and 39 runs, respectively. Furthermore, Suryakumar Kumar added 52 runs on the board, with Pandya staying unbeaten on a score of 21 as MI chased down the total in 15.3 overs, winning the game by seven wickets and registering their second win of the IPL 2024 season.