Former Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma was seen engaging in a heated exchange with the incumbent MI captain Hardik Pandya at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday (March 24). In a video that has taken the internet by storm, Rohit can be seen talking to a couple of members of Gujarat Titans before Hardik comes to hug him from behind.
The act took Rohit totally by surprise and he looked animated while talking to Hardik. The incident unfolded while Akash Ambani and Rashid Khan were also interacting with each other nearby and Rohit's animated reaction also left them surprised.
Watch the video:
Notably, Hardik replaced Rohit as the captain of Mumbai Indians in the lead-up to the IPL 2024 season. MI have faced a lot of backlash from cricket fans for making the move and the support for Rohit is on the rise since then.
Even during the game on Sunday, many cricket fans who turned up at the Narendra Modi Stadium were seen holding banners that read, "Rohit will always be my captain". Hardik was even booed by a section of spectators who had turned up to witness the game.
Meanwhile, MI lost their IPL 2024 season opener to Gujarat Titans by six runs after they failed to chase 169 down in their allotted 20 overs. However, skipper Hardik is confident that his side can turn things around in time with still 13 games to be played in the season.
"Obviously we back ourselves to chase those 42 runs [in the last five overs] but it was one of those days where we see the score quite less in those last five overs, we lost a bit of momentum there. It feels good to be back because this is one stadium where you can enjoy and feel the atmosphere quite lively and obviously the crowd was full and they got a good game as well. (On Tilak Varma turning down a single to Tim David during the 17th over) I think Tilak felt that was a better idea at that point of time. I completely back him. Not an issue, 13 games to go," said Hardik during the post-match presentation.
