The announcement of the Mumbai Indians team management that Hardik Pandya will take over the captaincy in IPL 2024 led to a fight among the fans of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya. As MI team management hasn’t opened up about the hate directed towards Hardik Pandya, in a recent YouTube live Ravichandran Ashwin expressed his standpoint that this resentment of fans is absurd and toxic.
The Hateful Game:
In the IPL 2024, Hardik Pandya took over the captaincy from Rohit Sharma. This decision hasn’t Worked out well for Hardik as the fandom started to backlash against him on social media indicating that it is discourteous for Rohit Sharma to play under Hardik Pandya’s captaincy. On top of that, the poor form of Hardik Pandya in the recent IPL matches has drawn more loathe from the fans adding fuel to the fire.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s Stands:
Ravichandran Ashwin, a veteran Indian bowler who played numerous matches with Hardik Pandya, points out that fans should stop fighting over each other and start supporting the players despite their form and decisions. He further adds that neither the team management nor the player has anything to do with this issue. Ravichandran Ashwin said “I think the responsibility and the onus lies on the fans,” in the live.
Ravichandran Ashwin indicated that this imbecile fight has never occurred in any country other than India. Ashwin further raised the question, saying “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?”.
Ashwin expressed his concern for the dispute among fans and stated clearly, “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. Fan wars should never go this ugly a route. One should remember which country these players represent- our country. So then what warrants a cricketer getting booed?”
Making his Point strong:
Ravichandran Ashwin points out that cricket is an ever-changing game and he further added that even the all-time greatest player, Sachin Tendulkar played under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly, but eventually, they played under Rahul Dravid too. Later, all of them played under Dhoni’s captaincy. “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.” Ashwin said.
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