Former India batter Ambati Rayudu was spotted engaging in a discussion with Hardik Pandya at the Mumbai Indians dugout after the team suffered their third successive defeat in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Ahead of this season, Pandya replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain of the Mumbai-based franchise. The India all-rounder, who lifted the IPL trophy as Gujarat Titans skipper in2022, is yet to gain the faith of the fans of his new team. Every time Pandya has taken the field this season, he has been welcomed with boos and whistles, no matter at which stadium he is playing.
The scene was quite the same at Wankhede where Mumbai Indians lost their first home game to Rajasthan Royals on Monday, April 1. After the hosts endured a six-wicket defeat in the low-scoring clash, Hardik Pandya looked quite disappointed, sitting alone in the dugout.
That’s when Ambati Rayudu, who represented Mumbai Indians from 2010 to 2017, came forward to console Pandya. The duo had a brief chat before Rayudu put his hand on Pandya’s shoulder to cheer him up.
? . #MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians | @hardikpandya7 pic.twitter.com/k3YSlofEdV— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 2, 2024
The beautiful moment was captured on camera and Mumbai Indians later shared the video on social media. The caption of the post read, “Why do we fall? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.”
Ambati Rayudu, earlier, shared his thoughts about Mumbai Indians’ sudden shift of leadership ahead of the 2024 IPL. During an interaction with News24, Rayudu said, “Rohit should have continued captaining this year and Hardik, maybe after a year, could have been given that responsibility. Rohit is still captaining India in T2OIs. I personally feel that MI rushed into this decision but probably they know best. Gujarat Titans had a different set-up. Captaining MI is not easy because there are so many star players in the team. There is too much pressure and not everyone can handle it.”
This is the sixth time in history that Mumbai Indians have lost three matches in a row at the start of an IPL season. They mirrored the unpleasant feat previously in 2008, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2022. However, on most occasions, Mumbai managed to bounce back in the second half of the tournament. In the 2015 IPL edition, they started with four losses but wrapped up the campaign as the champions.
Key: Hardik Pandya, Ambati Rayudu, Mumbai Indians, Wankhede, Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2024, Mumbai Indians Instagram, Hardik Pandya Mumbai captaincy, Ambati Rayudu about Mumbai Indians’ new captain
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