Mumbai Indians finally got a win under their kitty in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 campaign, beating Delhi Capitals by 33 runs on Sunday. In what was the first victory for Hardik Pandya, as the full-time skipper of Mumbai Indians, it was the late blitzkrieg by West Indian all-rounder Romario Shepherd that won MI the match. After the game, skipper Hardik was undoubtedly elated while his predecessor Rohit Sharma also shared a social media post, celebrating the team's first win of the season. However, fans found another reason to quarrel because of the two posts shared by Rohit and Hardik.
The 'two-team' theory at Mumbai Indians has been quite talked about, with rumours suggesting that one unit is led by Rohit while the other by Hardik. Some fans saw an opportunity to fuel the 2-team theory after Rohit and Hardik shared their own perspectives of the win against Delhi Capitals.
"Off the Mark", wrote Rohit on X (formerly Twitter) while Hardik said: "We're up and running".
A fan-battle triggerd on social media, with debates over the sort of images Rohit and Hardik used in their post giving birth to a new story. Here's how fans reacted:
"It was a lot of hard work. We had to clear our minds and make sure that we believed. We will be making tactical changes here and there but this will be our 12 and settling our team now is important. There's a lot of love and care going around in the changeroom. Belief and backing each other is the attitude out there. Everyone believed we need just one win. It was an amazing start today, always wonderful to get 70 odd in 6 overs. The way everyone chipped in when the opportunity was coming was good to see. That was some hitting na (On Romario's heroics). He won us the game. Difference was Romario v Delhi Capitals," Hardik said after the game.
It was the first win for Mumbai Indians in 4 matches. The victory lifts the team to 10th to 8th spot in the points table.