It's not often that a presenter has to ask, urge or basically tell the crowd to behave but sports broadcasting achieved a rare feat because of an unruly crowd that has followed the new Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya from Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and now to Mumbai. It was Mumbai Indians' first home game of the 2024 edition of the IPL but it seemed like more of Rohit fans than the fans of the franchise as when Hardik walked out for the toss, 'Rohit Rohit' echoed at the Wankhede Stadium and the all-rounder was booed when the commentator Sanjay Manjrekar announced his name.
Manjrekar began the toss saying, "Match No 14 of the TATA IPL 2024 and we are all set for the toss here. I have got the two captains with me, Hardik Pandya, captain of the Mumbai Indians, big round of applause." The boos surrounded the stadium instantly and Manjrekar was quick to tell the crowd, "Ladies and Gentlemen, behave."
Hardik could be seen appreciative of Manjrekar's gesture by smiling. Then Manjrekar went on with the proceedings of the toss. The official IPL handle shared the video, which has gone viral with the fans divided on Manjrekar's gesture. A few said that it was brave of Manjkrekar, who stood up against the unruly while many said that he didn't have to do that since the fans are the biggest stakeholders of the game.
Watch the video here:
Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and opted to bowl first and was rewarded instantly as the opening bowlers for the Men in Pink, Trent Boult and Nandre Burger, ran riot in the powerplay. Mumbai Indians lost four wickets inside the field restrictions before Tilak Varma and Pandya stitched a 56-run partnership for the fifth wicket. MI will need something special from the lower-middle order to post anything respectable at this venue.
