Rohit, Kohli shirt sales peak outside Wankhede: Chopra reveals fans' craze

Virat Kohli was not one bit impressed with the Wankhede Stadium crowd on Thursday when it welcomed Hardik Pandya with a loud round of booing. Kohli signaled to the crowd to stop the negative reception for the newly-appointed MI captain and urged the fans to get behind their skipper. The heartwarming gesture from Kohli went viral even as RCB were outclassed in a one-sided IPL 2024 match by the 5-time champions at the iconic venue.

Virat Kohli appeared disappointed as he heard boos welcome Hardik Pandya when the MI captain joined Suryakumar Yadav in the middle in the 12th over of their 197-run chase. Kohli appeared to gesture that Hardik plays for the country and that he didn't deserve such a reception from the crowd at the Wankhede. Hardik has been at the receiving end of loud boos from fans, who are yet to come to terms with the change in captaincy at MI. While Rohit Sharma was cheered for every shot that he played on Thursday, Hardik found the going tough, in terms of reception from the fans.

Hardik Pandya was not booed so much at the toss, unlike their first home game earlier in the month. In their game against the Royals on April 1, Hardik was booed loudly at the toss and broadcaster Sanjay Manjrekar stepped in and urged the crowd to "behave".