India’s gun fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has revealed that the whole Mumbai Indians squad backed Hardik Pandya when he received a negative reception during IPL 2024. Pandya was booed by the Ahmedabad crowd and was also given a harsh welcome by the Mumbai crowd.
Furthermore, Pandya scored 216 runs in 13 innings at an average of 18 and picked 11 wickets at a high economy rate of 10.75 while leading MI and thus could not deliver for the franchise. MI had a horrid season, finishing as the cellar-dwellers of the tournament with only four wins in 14 matches.
“Sometimes we understand, we live in a country where emotion is the talking point. We understand fans gets emotional. Players are emotional. It does affect that you are an Indian player, but your fans are not speaking well,” Bumrah said on Indian Express Adda.
“But you have to take it on your chin. It’s not that simple. They are screaming. You can hear it. But then your inner circle helps. We as a team were with him, talking to him. His family will always be there. That narrative also changed when we won the World Cup,” he added.
On the other hand, Pandya was able to turn the tables in the T20 World Cup. The right-hander scored 144 runs in six innings at an average of 48 and a strike rate of 151.57 in the T20I showpiece. Pandya also scalped 11 wickets in eight matches at an average of 17.36 and an economy rate of 7.61.
Bumrah added an Indian cricketer has to be mentally strong as the game is followed relgiously throughout the country and everyone has strong opinions.
“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, the narrative can change again. Because we play a sport so popular, every sportsman will go through all this. The best players in the world face all these things. It’s a part of a sportsman’s journey. We live a great life. We have good things in our sport,” Bumrah said.
Bumrah has been rested for the Sri Lanka tour.
