Gavaskar explains how MI captain Pandya made Mumbai fans cheer for him after booing throughout last season

Former India captain and batting great Sunil Gavaskar has pointed out how Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya made the home crowd cheer for him just one season after they tore into him by booing him throughout. While Mumbai Indians stood last on the points table in IPL 2024 when Hardik led the team for the first time, they are sitting in fourth place thus far and in touching distance of making the IPL 2025 playoffs.

It all began when Hardik rejoined Mumbai (from Gujarat Titans) last year, with the MI management appointing him as the new captain, replacing Rohit Sharma. However, the manner of that transition didn’t seem to sit too well with the MI fans, with everyone jeering him at almost every venue he played at. Though Pandya kept his cool, considering his team’s results haven’t helped the cause, he made everyone cheer for him and the franchise this season.

“What we saw from last year to this year has been the fact that he also got the support of the crowd backing him. Last year, he would have been a little bit unsettled by the fact that the Mumbai crowd and the Mumbai supporters were not really backing him so much. But this year, they are all behind him. And they are all urging him to go on to win. They have got one game at home on the 21st,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports, as quoted by the Indian Express.

Backing Pandya helped him and the team

Pandya receiving crowd backing has done wonders for him and the team, and the results are there for everyone to see. While the fans seem to have put everything behind them, their support helped Pandya fine-tune his leadership skills and help put them on the pedestal.

Gavaskar also praised Pandya’s calm head for not overreacting to misfields or errors during the games.

“And that is where we will see how they come back. And the way they have come back, we are talking about his thinking, and we are talking about how his calming influence is. That is because he has not shown any emotions on the field.

“When there has been a misfield, when there has been a drop catch, he has just turned on his back, and he has gone back to his fielding position. A lot of times, when the captain has a little bit of gesticulations, then the fielder also gets a little bit nervous. But he hasn’t done that. And so that’s the reason why Mumbai have come back so well. They normally do that. And once again, this year, I am hoping, as a Mumbai Indians fan, that they will continue to go on to win,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mumbai will play their next game against Delhi Capitals in a home game on Wednesday (May 21).