'There's One Thing You Should Know...': Hardik Pandya's Message to Fans After Frosty Wankhede Reception

It has been a tough initiation for Hardik Pandya as Mumbai Indians skipper in IPL 2024 as the team succumbed to their third successive defeat last night, losing to Rajasthan Royals, in what was their first home game of the season at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Monday.

MI fans have yet to warm up to the new skipper, and the results of their first three games have not done Pandya any favours. But historically, MI—one of the most successful IPL teams—has been a slow starter and pick up the pace sooner rather than later. MI fans will be hoping for a turnaround, and Pandya took to social media to reassure the fans that the team may be languishing at the bottom of the table, but they never give up and will keep going.

Sanjay Manjrekar Tells the Crowd to ‘Behave’ as Hardik Pandya Receives Harsh Reception at Wankhede: WATCH

“If there’s one thing you should know about this team, we never give up. We’ll keep fighting and going,” wrote Pandya on X (formerly Twitter) with a picture of the team huddle.

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MI famously went on to win the IPL title in 2015 after a poor start that saw them losing their first four games. They finished second on the points table that year and beat Chennai Super Kings in the final. In 2014, MI lost five games on the trot at the start but bounced back remarkably to qualify for the playoffs. In 2018, MI lost their first three matches of the season but still went on to finish fifth, missing the playoff berth by a whisker.

After the loss to RR, in which MI found themselves tottering at 20/4, Pandya mentioned that the Wankhede pitch took them by surprise, but he went on to concede that the team needs to be a ‘bit more disciplined and show a lot more courage‘.

“We didn’t start the way we wanted to start. I wanted to counter. We were in a decent position to get us around 150-160, but my wicket allowed them to get back more into the game; I needed to do a lot more,” said Pandya, adding, “It’s okay, we didn’t expect such a surface, but you can’t always have it as a batter, it’s nice at times for the bowlers to have a say. It’s all about doing the right things. (correct) Results happen at times, and other times, it doesn’t. We believe we can do a lot better as a group, but we need to be a bit more disciplined and show a lot more courage.”