Watch: Unhappy Kohli Takes Stand For Hardik Against Booing Wankhede Crowd

Virat Kohli was not happy with the crowd at the Wankhede Stadium booing Hardik Pandya when he came out to bat during the IPL 2024 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians on Thursday. The decision to appoint Hardik as the Mumbai Indians skipper in place of Rohit Sharma ahead of the competition was not received well by the fans and following three consecutive losses, there were a section of spectators who previously booed Hardik. However, Kohli was not impressed by the crowd's reaction and he gestured to stop the negative reception and urged them to cheer for the MI captain. The gesture quickly went viral with users praising him for his intervention. (IPL Points Table)

Kohli didn't approve of the booing aimed at Hardik by the Wankhede crowd. Instead, he encouraged them to cheer for Hardik. Surprisingly, not even his own teammates took a stand for him.
How can someone hate this man? #RCBvsMI #RCBvMI
pic.twitter.com/yQwijGnA1h — Aditi. (@Sassy_Soul_) April 11, 2024

Hardik was booed for the first time when he came to bowl during the RCB innings but the lowest crowd reaction came when he came out to bat after the dismissal of Rohit. While Rohit's every shot was cheered heavily by the spectators, Hardik had a tough time finding appreciation from the crowd.

Huge respectKohli.#ViratKohli #MIvRCB #TATAIPL #IPL2024 #BharatArmy pic.twitter.com/bcfPg6Yxqe — The Bharat Army (@thebharatarmy) April 11, 2024

Kohli was quick to react as he stopped the spectators from booing and in a video going viral on social media, he can also be seen reminding them that Hardik is an Indian cricket team player.

The result was almost instantaneous as a section of the crowd started chanting "Hardik, Hardik" and the MI skipper responded to the cheering with a first-ball six against Will Jacks.

Mumbai Indians rode brilliant batting performances from Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan as well as a five-wicket haul from Jasprit Bumrah to comprehensively defeat Royal Challengers Bengaluru.