Jasprit Bumrah, one of the architects of India’s 2024 T20 World Cup triumph, opened up on Hardik Pandya’s ordeal with the fans after the former was named captain of Mumbai Indians for the recently concluded season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Hardik replaced Rohit Sharma as MI skipper, a decision that was not supported wholeheartedly by the fans.
“Sometimes we understand, we live in a country where emotion is the talking point. We understand fans get emotional. Players are emotional. It does affect that you are an Indian player, but your own fans are not speaking well. But you have to take it on your chin. How can you stop people? If you focus on yourself, you shut that door. It’s not that simple. They are screaming. You can hear it. But then your inner circle helps. We as a team do not encourage that. We as a team were with him. We were talking to him. His family will always be there. Certain things are beyond your control. That narrative also changed when we won the World Cup,” Bumrah was quoted as saying on the Indian Express Adda.
“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, that narrative can change again. Because we play a sport that is so popular, every sportsman will go through all this. In football, we see fans booing people. The best players in the world face all these things. It’s a part of a sportsman’s journey. Things happen that are not a great spectacle. It is not fair. It is what it is. We live a great life; we have good things in our sport.”
“We as a team we cannot live a man behind. We are there for each other. We are trying to help each other. I have played a lot of cricket with Hardik but it might be a youngster. It is us against the world. You do not want to introduce too much. We were together and trying to help him if he needed it,” Bumrah added.
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