The IPL 2024 was marred with controversies when it comes to Mumbai Indians. The franchise decided to appoint Hardik Pandya as the captain in place of Rohit Sharma ahead of the new season - a decision that did not go down well with a section of the fanbase. As MI failed to perform well on the ground, Hardik faced a lot of criticism and he was even booed by some fans at the Wankhede Stadium. However, things completely changed after Hardik played a major role in guiding India to the T20 World Cup 2024 title. In a recent interaction, India and Mumbai Indians fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah opened up regarding the entire controversy and said that although things were bad, the team support Hardik in the tough times.
"Sometimes we understand, we live in a country where emotion is the talking point. We understand fans get emotional. Players are emotional. It does affect that you are an India player, but your own fans are not speaking well. But you have to take it on your chin. How can you stop people? If you focus on yourself, you shut that door. It's not that simple. They are screaming. You can hear it."
"But then your inner circle helps. We as a team do not encourage that. We as a team were with him. We were talking to him. His family will always be there. Certain things are beyond your control. That narrative also changed when we won the World Cup," said Bumrah on the Indian Express Adda.
"You cannot take it seriously. Now that people are singing praises, it is not the be all or end all. When we lose a game, that narrative can change again. Because we play a sport that is so popular, every sportsman will go through all this. In football, we see fans booing people. The best players in the world face all these things. It's a part of a sportsman's journey. Things happen that are not a great spectacle. It is not fair. It is what it is. We live a great life; we have good things in our sport."
"We as a team we cannot leave a man behind. We are there for each other. We are trying to help each other. I have played a lot of cricket with Hardik but it might be a youngster. It is us against the world. You do not want to introduce too much. We were together and trying to help him if he needed it," he added.